FINAL FANTASY: Reality Meets Fantasy
by Zack-TKWei
Summary: A story that mixes the three worlds of Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9, several unknown characters from each world... and a young boy from the real world.
1. Prologue

Final Fantasy: Reality Meets Fantasy  
  
# This is strictly a fan fiction imagined and written by the author, Zack_TKWei. Please send your comment / comments about his fan fiction by e-mailing to this address, zack_tkw@yahoo.com. He hopes that you enjoy his story.  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
It was a normal afternoon, just like any other. A young boy was walking home, carrying a small bag in his right hand. He smiled as he looks into the bag.  
  
"Finally, I am able to buy my own Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX. Even though I've borrowed the games from my friends and played them over and over, still, I wanted to have my own for my collection."  
  
This boy, who followed by the name of Zack, continued walking along the empty road. Zack was wearing a thin blue denim jacket over a completely white T-shirt and black baggy pants that went all the way down to his red snickers. Suddenly, while Zack was walking without a worry in his mind, there was a loud roar of thunder and as he looked up to the sky, he realized that dark clouds were starting to gather.  
  
"Oh, come on! Not now. My house is still a few miles away," he sighs, "I guess I better run."  
  
Zack started running for about a kilometer but was already getting tired. He slowed down as he started taking big breaths. He finally stopped running. Bending down, hands on his thighs, he slowly breathed in big breaths.  
  
"Huff. Huff. Man, I am definitely not suited for running like this."  
  
Zack started to walk again just as it started to rain, not a heavy one but enough to make anyone wet.  
  
"Great. Now I'm going to be wet when I get home. Humph, I should have brought an umbrella. Well, I guess I'm going to have a shower then, when I get home."  
  
He continued walking a few pace when, with a bright flash and a loud crack, Zack was suddenly hit by a streak of lightning. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious. His clothes were burned a little but the bag, that he was carrying, had started a small fire, but was soon extinguished by the falling rain.  
  
*********  
  
Zack, after some time, finally opened his eyes. He shook his head as he slowly pushed himself up. He shook his head some more and felt a little pain in his head.  
  
"Uhhhh. What happened? The last thing I remember, I was walking home when suddenly everything just went black."  
  
He shook his head again and looked around.  
  
"This is. This is strange. Where am I? Why am I here?" he gasped, constantly looking everywhere around him to be sure of his surrounding.  
  
He was standing on a giant rock in a wide-open plain. He turned left and right for a while before he saw a town at the bottom of some mountains, which had sharp but snow-covered peaks.  
  
"I think I'd better get to that town before it gets dark," he said to himself as he looked at the setting sun.  
  
Zack was about to jump off the rock when suddenly, out of the blue appeared a dark-blue, gargoyle-like creature that tried to swipe Zack with its long, sharp claws. Luckily, the creature missed Zack. However, it had surprised him badly. Zack fell off the rock and right onto his bottom.  
  
Looking, eyes wide open, at the monster, he gasped, "W-W-W-What the heck!?"  
  
The creature hovered in the air in front of Zack. Fear ran throughout Zack's body and mind. The creature seemed to smile as it looked at Zack with its piercing, red eyes. The creature then charged for Zack again when suddenly, a man jumped in front of Zack and attacked it with a large sword that seemed to be transparent at the sharp-edges of the blade. The man missed though, for the creature was quick enough to dodge his attack. It hovered in the air as it glared menacingly at the man.  
  
Suddenly, Zack heard a woman's voice, "Ultima!!"  
  
Suddenly, the creature was surrounded by a strange bright-green light. The creature shrieked a loud cry of pain as it vanished at the spot. Zack turned to look towards where the voice came from. It was from a young girl who had long, dark-brown hair that reached down to her small waist. She was wearing a white, tight shirt and tight shorts that were extremely short, almost exposing most of her beautifully slim thighs.  
  
While still holding his sword in his right hand, the man walked over to Zack. He stretched his free hand to Zack. Only at that time, Zack realized that the man had blond, spiky hair that seemed to point everywhere and was wearing a purple tight shirt and purple baggy pants, which were tucked into his dark-brown boots. He also had, what seemed to Zack, a metal shoulder guard on the man's left shoulder.  
  
"You alright?" asked the man.  
  
"Y-Y-Yeah, thank you," muttered Zack, still a little shaken up by the monster.  
  
Zack grabbed the man's outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet as the young girl walked over to the man's side.  
  
"What were you doing out here without any weapons? Have you actually forgotten about the monsters that roam around here? Or do you fight with your hands?" asked the girl.  
  
"Well.ummmm." Zack uttered, not knowing what to say.  
  
"It's all right for now, Tifa," said the man.  
  
"Tifa?" thought Zack, surprised.  
  
"He was lucky, for today. But next time, we might not be there for you, kid," the man continued.  
  
"This can't be right," thought Zack, surprised.  
  
"What's your name?" asked Tifa.  
  
"Oh, i-it-it's Zack, Zack Nurvana," answered Zack.  
  
"Well, Zack. I'm Tifa Lockhart. And he is Cloud Strife," said Tifa with a sweet smile.  
  
"Tifa Lockhart? Cloud Strife?" thought Zack, even more surprised.  
  
"I think we should bring Zack back to town, Tifa," Cloud suggested to Tifa.  
  
"Of course we should. We have to. Otherwise Zack will might get killed," said Tifa.  
  
"Well," Cloud turned to Zack, "Let's go, Zack!"  
  
They all left for the town, but Zack couldn't help but think to himself.  
  
"Cloud and Tifa? They're characters from Final Fantasy VII. They are just characters of a mere game. But I am now in the company of two people who claims to be them. Are they telling me the truth? B-But they must. They look exactly like Cloud and Tifa in the game. What's going on?" 


	2. Chapter I

CHAPTER I (A): THE MYSTERIOUS WARNING  
  
Zack, Cloud and Tifa reached the town after a while of walking. The town was mostly of houses that stood pleasantly in circular pattern. An old water tower stood in the center of the town. There was a big, but beautiful mansion further inside of the town, too. Strangely, decorations were everywhere around town. Zack, Cloud and Tifa stood at the entrance of the town.  
  
"Um, sir. May I ask something?" Zack asked Cloud, "Is this Nibelheim?"  
  
"Yes, it is and you don't have to call me 'sir'. Just call me Cloud," Cloud answered with a warm smile.  
  
"Okay," Zack replied as he looked around the town once again.  
  
"I can't believe this. This looks EXACTLY like Nibelheim in the game, besides all those decorations." Zack thought to himself.  
  
"What's going on? Why are there decorations around the town?" Zack asked in curiosity.  
  
"Cloud, do you think we can invite Zack?" Tifa asked Cloud.  
  
"Huh?" Zack, surprised.  
  
"Sure," Cloud answered. Looking at Zack, he continued, "Zack, would you like to come to our wedding?"  
  
"Wedding!?" Zack was completely surprised.  
  
"Yes, within two days, we'll be getting married," said Tifa as she hugged Cloud.  
  
"Sure! Of course I would like to!" Zack answers excitingly, "So that's why there are some much decorations."  
  
Hearing that, Tifa nodded while smiling cheerfully.  
  
"That's great!" Cloud exclaimed.  
  
"See you again in two days then!" Tifa continued.  
  
Just as Cloud and Tifa were about to leave Zack alone, Cloud remembered something that he wanted to ask Zack.  
  
"Oh, do you live around here, Zack?" Cloud questioned Zack.  
  
"No, uh, I'm from another town," lied Zack.  
  
"Oh, which one?" asked Tifa curiously.  
  
"Um. Cosmo Canyon," lied Zack again after thinking for a while.  
  
"Oh, what a coincidence. Two of our friends are from Cosmo Canyon," Cloud said.  
  
"Two? Isn't it only RedXIII?" Zack thought to himself.  
  
"Oh, really? May I ask, who?" Zack asked curiously.  
  
"Well, there's RedXIII and Cinna," Tifa answered Zack, "But they're not humans as you might think most of our friends would be. They both look like wolves and they're a rare species of an ancient race."  
  
"Oh, I see," Zack muttered.  
  
"Cinna?" Zack thought, "There wasn't any character in the game with that name."  
  
"Well, enough talk already. We've got to help you find a place to stay. Um. should you stay in the inn or maybe, at our place?" Cloud suggested while thinking.  
  
"Your place? Sure! If it isn't too much trouble," Zack answered excitingly.  
  
"Sure. for a fee," said Tifa.  
  
"What?" that surprised Zack.  
  
"Just kidding!" Tifa laughed, "You can stay with us for as long as you want!"  
  
"Then I guess that settles everything. That's where we live," Cloud said as he pointed towards the big mansion.  
  
"That's where you live?" asked the surprised Zack.  
  
"Yup, for over three years now," Tifa answered.  
  
"Three years." Zack thought, "After the end of the game?"  
  
"It's getting dark. I think we better get inside. Let's go, Zack," Cloud urged as he and Tifa started walking towards the mansion, side-by-side.  
  
"Okay!" Zack shouted as he ran after Cloud and Tifa.  
  
*********  
  
It was already morning when Zack finally woke up. Getting off the bed, he stretched himself while yawning.  
  
"It's morning. Maybe I've already woken up from that strange dream," Zack thought to himself.  
  
"Have you woken up yet, Zack?" suddenly Tifa's voice broke through his thought.  
  
"Nope, guess not," Zack uttered, a little surprised at first.  
  
"Yeah!" Zack answered back.  
  
"Good, then come down and have breakfast, okay?" shouted Tifa again.  
  
"Okay!" Zack answered.  
  
Zack went down the stairs and then to the right from the staircase to a big room where there was some windows, which stretched from the floor to almost the ceiling.  
  
"When I first entered this mansion, I was surprised that they had changed the rooms in the mansion a lot," Zack thought as he entered the dining room.  
  
"This room, in the game, had a piano in it, but they had moved the piano to a room at the other side of the mansion, where they had turned into a small piano room, as they called it. Now this room, which is now both, a dining room and a kitchen," Zack thought some more as he sat at the rectangle- shaped dining table.  
  
Tifa, who was wearing a cute, red apron, was busy cooking breakfast, while Cloud was staring blankly out the window. Besides Tifa's apron, she and Cloud were still wearing their usual clothing.  
  
"Tifa, when do you think they will arrive?" Cloud asked while turning his head towards her.  
  
"I'm not sure, too, Cloud," Tifa answered Cloud while she continued cooking.  
  
"They? Could it be?" Zack thought about the possibility that 'they' might be the other characters from the game.  
  
"Who's coming?" Zack asked, pretending to not know.  
  
"Oh, our friends who will be coming for our wedding," Tifa answered with her happy smile.  
  
"Um, who might they be?" Zack asked again, still unsure.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll introduce you to them when they arrive," Cloud turned towards him, assuring Zack as he walked away from the window to the table.  
  
"Okay, breakfast's ready! Cloud, please call Vincent to come out from the library and eat breakfast," Tifa told Cloud as she turned off the kitchen stove.  
  
"Sure," Cloud answered and left the room.  
  
"Vincent?" Zack muttered out.  
  
"Oh, he's a friend of ours. He stays with us in this mansion," Tifa explained to Zack.  
  
"Oh, I see. But, where was he yesterday, then?" Zack asked, "I didn't see him yesterday when I came here."  
  
"Oh, he was in the library yesterday," Tifa answered while busy preparing the breakfast.  
  
"The library? What was he doing in there?" Zack asked again.  
  
"Nothing, actually," Tifa answered. As she placed a dish in front of Zack, she continued, "You see, Vincent was once in love with a woman named Lucrecia several years ago. Even though he'd admitted his love to her once, she married another man, a mad professor named Hojo. When she gave birth to a boy named Sephiroth, she died. Vincent never forgave Hojo because if it wasn't for Hojo's research, she might've still be alive."  
  
When she was done serving the dishes, she slowly took off her apron as she continued again, "But over three years ago, Hojo went completely mad and tried to destroy a whole city. We went to confront him. Despite turning himself into a monster with a formula from his research, we were still able to defeat him."  
  
She hung her apron on the wall and walked over to the table as she continued some more, "Now, more than three years has passed, but just a few days ago, Vincent told Cloud and I that he saw Lucrecia appeared in front of this mansion and she warned him of another danger, worst than the last one we've once experienced. She said that it is soon to happen but not only to our world. Now he stays in the library, trying to figure out what she meant by 'not to our world only'. But he still haven't found anything in the library."  
  
Just as she finished, Cloud and another man, Vincent Valentine, entered the room. Looking at Vincent, Zack noticed that he still looked the same. He still had his long, dark hair. He was still wearing his crimson band around his forehead and his crimson cape. He was wearing a shirt and pants that was like Cloud's, only that they were black.  
  
Everyone sat down. Cloud and Tifa sat beside each other while Vincent sat beside Zack. Sitting beside Vincent actually made Zack a little nervous. Vincent had a solemn look on his face as if he was an evil person. Besides that, Vincent was also Zack's favorite character from Final Fantasy VII.  
  
"Let's eat, everyone!" Cloud announced. Hearing that, everyone started to chow down on their meals.  
  
"Wow, Tifa, these are really good," Zack praised.  
  
"Thanks, Zack," giggled Tifa.  
  
However, Vincent was eating slowly. Stealing glimpses of him, Vincent looked to be in a very deep thought to Zack.  
  
"What could the danger be?" Vincent muttered softly to himself.  
  
"Vincent, don't think too much about that until you can't even finish your food," Tifa said to Vincent as she took another bite of her scrambled eggs.  
  
"It can't be helped," Vincent answered. He then stood up, "Sorry, Tifa, but I must find out what this danger is."  
  
He walked away from the table but stopped at the doorway.  
  
"Don't get me wrong. Your meals are delicious."  
  
With that, Vincent exited the room.  
  
"Thanks, Vincent," Tifa mumbled softly after a short pause.  
  
Zack watched all this without saying a word.  
  
"I wonder what is going to happen," thought Zack as he took another bite of his bacon.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER I (B): THE CHARACTER REUNION  
  
A few hours had passed. Zack is now wandering around Nibelheim, looking around while thinking, "I wonder." Looking around as he continues, "How did I get here? Here. inside the world of Final Fantasy VII? I wonder how am I going to get back. to my world?"  
  
As he looked around the town, he saw Tifa staring happily at the nicely decorated water tower with her back to him. He walked over towards her. As he approached her, she laughed softly to herself.  
  
"What is it?" Zack asked in curiosity.  
  
Surprised, Tifa turned around, facing Zack. Her face turned red a little, "Nothing."  
  
"Nothing? It didn't seem nothing to me. What is it? Did something funny happen here before?" Zack asked as he looked up at the tower.  
  
"Yes, there have been a lot of things that happened here before," she said, face still a little red. Looking up at the tower, she continued, "But I will never forget the one that happened a few months ago, during a beautifully bright and starry night."  
  
"What was it?" Zack asked, curious.  
  
"As I've said, it was a beautifully bright and starry night.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: TYING THE KNOT  
  
Cloud and Tifa are looking at the stars. Tifa is cuddled in Cloud's arm, her head resting on his right shoulder and her hands resting peacefully on his hands.  
  
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," Tifa, breaking the quiet night.  
  
"Yeah, just like it was that night," agreed Cloud.  
  
"Yes, the night when you made that promise to me that you will be my hero to rescue me when I was in trouble," Tifa recalls, "And you kept your promise. You rescued me when I was in trouble, but you didn't just stop there. After you rescued me, you took care of me until I got better."  
  
She pushes her head softly to his shoulder as she holds tightly on Cloud's hands, "And you were so worried about me." A drop of tear runs down from her eye, "Thank you, Cloud. Thank you."  
  
Cloud pushes her away softly. Looking into her eyes for a moment, he kisses her. It was a short kiss, but a heartfelt one. After the kiss, Cloud and Tifa look at each other, face-to-face, eye-to-eye.  
  
He wipes her tear away, "It's all right, because I want to make you another promise."  
  
Cloud stands up as Tifa watches in wonder. He pulls her up, carefully. Tifa is still wondering what was Cloud doing. Looking into her face, Cloud suddenly kneels on one knee, surprising Tifa.  
  
"Tifa, I promise to cherish you forever as my one and only love. Would you marry me?"  
  
As he asked the question, he reveals to her a diamond ring. She is completely surprised. She stares at the ring and then looks at Cloud. Tears start to form in her already teary eyes as a joyful smile spread on her face.  
  
"Oh, you didn't need a ring to ask me that!" she said before hugging him.  
  
They both stood up. Looking into each other's eyes, they lock themselves together with a kiss that would have worth more than any treasure in the world. Their kiss seemed to have stopped in time as a shooting star appeared above them in the star-filled night sky.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
.and that was what happened," said Tifa, finishing her story.  
  
"Wow, that was. very romantic," admired Zack.  
  
"Yes, it was," she answered as she looked up at the tower again.  
  
Then, they heard a sound. At first, quite faint, then it slowly got louder and louder. As it got louder, Zack was able to determine the sound to be the sound of some huge rocket engines. He and Tifa looked towards where the sound was coming from, at the horizon. At first, they can't make out the thing that was heading towards where they were. As it got closer, Tifa smiled widely.  
  
"It's the Highwind! They're coming! Come on, Zack! Let's go and greet them!"  
  
Grabbing Zack's hand, Tifa pulled him to the entrance of Nibelheim. At the entrance, Zack and Tifa could see the Highwind hovering high above the open field in front of Nibelheim. Slowly, it hovered closer and closer to the ground. As it landed, a rope ladder was dropped from the deck of the airship. Then, some people started to climb down the ladder. It was hard for Zack to see who were they but he could tell who they were by how they looked.  
  
The first to reach the floor was a man with very short, blonde hair who wore a blue jacket, a pair of goggles above his forehead and had a cigarette butt in his mouth. Zack knew it was Cid Highwind.  
  
The second was a slim girl who had short, black hair and had some kind of wear on her left hand. She wore a green shirt that revealed her slim belly and shorts that were rolled up at the ends. Zack knew she could only be Yuffie Kisaragi.  
  
The third was a big Negro whose right hand was a gun. The sleeves of his ragged shirt were torn off. He was carefully carrying a little girl, in a bright purple dress, on his shoulder. Zack immediately recognized them to be Barret and Marlene Wallace, his daughter.  
  
The next one was a dog-like or wolf-like creature, with crimson mane and a small fire at the tip of its tail. It had a little difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack had no doubt that it was RedXIII. But then, another creature that looked exactly like RedXIII started to climb down the ladder. This one had a pinkish-red mane though, but it also had difficulty climbing down the ladder. Zack guessed that it might be Cinna that he'd heard from Tifa yesterday.  
  
The last one to climb down the ladder was a big, white creature, which had purple wings on its back. On its head was a black cat that was wearing a small crown on its head and a little red cape. Zack smiled, knowing it was definitely Cait Sith.  
  
After everyone had climbed down the ladder, they ran over to where Zack and Tifa were standing.  
  
"Hey, long time no see, Tifa!" Cid greeted.  
  
Tifa greeted back, "It sure has been".  
  
"Who's the kid?" Barret asked, Marlene still enjoying herself on his shoulder.  
  
"Oh, I forgot!" Tifa put her hands on Zack's shoulders as she announced, "Guys, meet Zack Nurvana!"  
  
Everyone greets Zack, as if in a chorus.  
  
"Hi," Zack greeted, a little excited.  
  
Tifa slowly introduced Zack to every one of them, not knowing that Zack already know who they were. Sure enough, the creature with the pinkish mane was Cinna, who was RedXIII's girlfriend. She was found living in a forest near Cosmo Canyon.  
  
"Now that you all know our new friend, Zack, let's go surprise Cloud!" Tifa announced to everyone.  
  
"I doubt that we can still surprise Cloud, especially since the Highwind was, kind of, loud," Cid said aloud.  
  
Everyone left for the mansion, following Zack and Tifa. When they reached the entrance of the mansion, Cloud was already waiting for them.  
  
"Hi, everyone! I see that you all already know Zack."  
  
"See, what I told ya," Cid said.  
  
Tifa walked towards Cloud.  
  
"Ow, this wasn't fun," she frowned at him, playfully.  
  
Cloud just laughed as he gave her a peck on the cheek.  
  
"Come on in, guys!" Cloud announced, waves to invite them in.  
  
"Hey, where's Vincent?" Barret asked, Marlene joyfully kicking both her legs back and forth on his shoulder.  
  
"Still trying to find out what that danger is?" Cait Sith guessed as it slowly hopped to the mansion gate behind everyone else.  
  
"Yeah, but still nothing," Cloud answered as he looked at Cait Sith who had stopped in front of him.  
  
"I hope he doesn't overwork himself," Yuffie said in concern.  
  
"Don't worry about Vincent. We all know well enough that he is a strong fellow," Cid assured while standing at the mansion door.  
  
One after the other, everyone entered the mansion.  
  
*********  
  
After hours of catching up and dinner, night arrived. Zack is wandering around town again. RedXIII and Cinna were talking with each other, while looking at the stars on the water tower. Cid was sitting on one of the windows at the floor level of the mansion. With one leg dangling, he was smoking a cigarette while talking with Cloud and Tifa, who were sitting together on the ground with their backs on the wall. Barret, however, could be seen, telling a bedtime story to Marlene, through a window of the bedroom where Marlene was sleeping in. Yuffie was watching them from the rooftop of one of the houses.  
  
Zack watched RedXIII and Cinna from a short distance.  
  
"Man, this is. this is the first time in my whole life that I feel so. so happy and excited."  
  
He stares up to the stars in the sky.  
  
"I am now experiencing the life after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Everybody knows what happened 500 years after the end of the game, but I might be, no. I am the only person from the real world that knows what happened to Cloud and his friends a few years after that."  
  
He started wandering around town again, around the water tower.  
  
"I wonder. if I get a chance to go back to my world, my real home. will I take it?"  
  
He walked around some more before looking up at a girl, who had long, black hair, looking up at the stars from a window on the second floor of a house. The girl looked down and spotted Zack staring at her. She closed the window but her shadow could still be seen through the window, walking away. Zack looked at the house that she was in. He realized that it was the same house that Tifa once lived in, in the game. Looking at the window again, he thought.  
  
"I wonder who that girl is?" 


	3. Chapter II

CHAPTER II (A): THE WEDDING  
  
The next day, the day of the wedding, has finally arrived. Yuffie and Cinna are helping Tifa with her wedding dress in her bedroom, at the left wing of the mansion.  
  
"Wow, Tifa, you look GREAT and cute in that wedding dress!" admired Yuffie.  
  
"Stop teasing me," said Tifa, blushing a little.  
  
"It's true, Tifa!" Cinna agreed as she scanned Tifa in her wedding dress.  
  
"Well," Tifa looked into the mirror, turning her body from side to side, admiring herself, "It is nice on me, but does it really make me look cute?"  
  
"Of course, it does! Everything that you wear makes you look cute!" Yuffie exclaimed.  
  
Tifa blushed again, "Thanks."  
  
While at the other side of the house, Cloud was already dressed in his suit.  
  
"Looking good, Cloud," exclaimed Cid.  
  
"Yeah," Barret agreed, holding hand-in-hand with Marlene.  
  
"You look really good in that suit, Uncle Cloud!" admired Marlene.  
  
"Tifa will surely say that, too!" Cait Sith predicted.  
  
"I think so, too. What about you, Zack?" asked RedXIII, looking over to Zack.  
  
"Yeah, Cloud. You look EXCELLENT in that suit," Zack said aloud.  
  
Cloud's face starts turning red a little, "Thanks, you guys".  
  
"I wonder if Tifa's done," Cid asked himself, "Zack!"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Would you mind to go and check if Tifa's ready?"  
  
"Not at all!"  
  
Zack left to the room for Tifa's. As Zack was heading there, he started to think to himself again.  
  
"Well, Cloud and Tifa's wedding day has finally arrived. Everyone's really excited. But I guess who wouldn't be if their friends are getting married."  
  
He stopped and knocked on Tifa's bedroom door.  
  
"I wonder how Tifa will look like in her wedding dress."  
  
"Come in!" a voice from inside the room.  
  
Zack guessed that it was Yuffie's voice. Zack opened the door and entered the room. When he looked towards where the girls stood, he was surprised.  
  
"Wow, Tifa! You look really beautiful in that wedding dress!"  
  
Tifa blushed even more, "Oh, stop it already!"  
  
Yuffie and Cinna laughed loudly. Zack joined them, as well.  
  
"Well, I guess you are ready then?" Zack said.  
  
"Yes, I'm ready," Tifa answered softly, with that happy smile of hers.  
  
"Cloud must be done then, since you're here. I'm sure he's gonna look good in his suit, won't he, Tifa?" Yuffie exclaimed, looking at her with a playful smile on her face.  
  
Tifa blushed some more in embarrassment. Yuffie, Cinna and Zack laughed again.  
  
"Tell everybody that we're ready for the wedding now, Zack," Cinna said.  
  
"Okay," answered Zack.  
  
*********  
  
A short while had passed. The wedding was going to be held in front of the mansion. Nearly the whole town had come to watch the wedding. Cid had brought a beautifully decorated arch for the wedding down from the Highwind. Cloud is now standing under the arch together with Cait Sith, who was their wedding priest! Cloud's best men, Barret, Cid, RedXIII and Vincent, stood at right side of the arch. Zack, though, was standing at the front of the crowd. Cinna, who was one of Tifa's best women, together with Yuffie, stood at the other side of the arch.  
  
"All my friends are gonna be so jealous of me if they knew that I'm about to witness the marriage between Cloud and Tifa!" Zack thought as he recalled all his friends who were big fans of the Final Fantasy series.  
  
Just then, the front door of the mansion opened and there stood Yuffie. Yuffie quickly rushed over to stand with Cinna. Just then, Tifa appeared from inside the mansion and started walking slowly towards the arch where Cloud stood. She was wearing a thin but beautiful veil over her head. But even through her veil, Zack knew it was unmistakable to see that Tifa was smiling happily. As she was walking, Zack looked at Cloud. He was also smiling happily.  
  
After walking a short while, Tifa stood together with Cloud under the arch. They turned to face Cait Sith. Cait Sith continued to say all the usual things that a wedding priest would say during a wedding ceremony, but Zack will never forget the last part of the whole wedding.  
  
"Cloud, will you take Tifa Lockhart as your ever-darling wife, in sickness and in health, til Death parts you?" Cait Sith asked, looking at Cloud.  
  
"Yes," Cloud answered, still smiling happily.  
  
Cait Sith then looks at Tifa, "Tifa, will you take Cloud Strife as your ever-darling husband, in sickness and in health, til Death parts you?"  
  
Tifa answered, "Yes."  
  
She was smiling so happily, Zack noticed.  
  
"Now, the rings, Marlene," Cait Sith called out.  
  
Marlene walked over to Cloud, bringing two rings on a decorated tray. Cloud took one of the rings and put it around Tifa's wedding finger. Marlene then brought the last ring to Tifa. Tifa took it and slowly put it around Cloud's wedding finger. Cloud and Tifa looked at each other's eyes.  
  
"I've never seen them smile so happily before", Zack thought.  
  
The couple then faced back at Cait Sith.  
  
"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," Cait Sith announced calmly, but there was a tone of excitement, Zack noticed.  
  
Cloud and Tifa faced each other once again. Cloud slowly lifted up Tifa's veil. This was the first time he saw her face since that morning. Her face wore a thin layer of make-up that did not cover much of her natural beauty, but only made her look fairer, and the lipstick that she used made her lips as red as blood. To Cloud, Tifa was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.  
  
Looking into each other's eyes, their faces got closer and closer and finally their lips met, sealing their marriage. Everyone started clapping loudly and excitedly together. Some started to throw rice at Cloud and Tifa. Cloud and Tifa walked together towards the mansion, smiling their happy smiles once more as rice began to shower on them. When Cloud and Tifa entered the mansion, the best men and women closed the door, not leaving behind Zack and Marlene, preventing any more rice showering into the mansion.  
  
*********  
  
After an enjoying afternoon of celebrations, night arrived. Cid and the others had a big surprise to give to Cloud and Tifa on the Highwind. Zack was already brought up to the Highwind that afternoon, without Cloud and Tifa knowing. So, now Zack knew what the surprise was. That evening, the guys brought up the married couple to the Highwind, blindfolded. They were led to the bridge.  
  
Cloud and Tifa, with the help of Barret and Cinna, entered the bridge, still blindfolded. When Barret and Cinna suggested Cloud and Tifa to stop, the married couple stood still, side-by-side.  
  
"Can we take off our blindfolds now?" Tifa asked aloud, not knowing where were the others standing.  
  
Yuffie answered excitedly, "Yes, now you can!"  
  
Cloud and Tifa took off their blindfolds and was surprised to see the bridge decorated. There were flowers hanging in some places, long ribbons that went across the whole room and other usual decorations.  
  
"SURPRISE!!" everyone shouted to Cloud and Tifa.  
  
"What's this all about?" Cloud asked Cid.  
  
"Well, we all decided that the best thing to give you two for your wedding would definitely have to be the best honeymoon that exists in this world," Cid answered.  
  
"And that would be?" Tifa asked.  
  
"And that would be a grand flight on the Highwind!" Yuffie shouted, "What can be sweeter than having a honeymoon close to the moon, huh?"  
  
"Of course I will be the captain of this flight," said Cid, proudly.  
  
"And I will be the one serving you two during this honeymoon," Cait Sith said as it hops to Cid's side.  
  
Cait Sith's mog was wearing a waiter's suit that seemed to be too tight but yet seemed to fit the giant mog.  
  
"Thanks, you guys," said Tifa with her warm and happy smile.  
  
"Are you all gonna be on this flight, too?" Cloud asked, looking at Yuffie, RedXIII, Cinna, Vincent, Barret and Zack.  
  
"I am! I want to see how romantic this honeymoon will be," Yuffie answered, jumping up and down excitedly.  
  
"We won't be," Barret answered as he continued to explain, "We planned to have as little of us accompanying you two on this flight as we can. So that you and Tifa can have more time with each other than to have us around to bother you."  
  
"That means a lot, Barret," said Cloud, smiling warmly together with Tifa at Barret.  
  
Shaking his head, Barret smiled back at them, "It's nothing, Cloud. It's nothing"  
  
*********  
  
Barret, RedXIII, Cinna, Vincent and Zack had gotten off the Highwind and were on the field, looking up at Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Cait Sith, who were at the side of the deck looking down at them. Cid was at the bridge, managing everything before the Highwind got into gear and started to float up. As it got higher and higher, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Cait Sith started to wave at everyone on the field. Barret, RedXIII, Cinna, Vincent and Zack waved back at them as the Highwind started to turn its direction and skimmed through the sky slowly, almost soundless because the rocket engine wasn't in use. When the Highwind was a few miles away from where Zack and the rest stood, they all went into town.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER II (B): THE GIRL  
  
Barret is now with Marlene, once again reading a bedtime story to her in the same room like before, this time however together with RedXIII and Cinna. Vincent was in the library again. Even with all the fun that day, his mind was always on solving Lucrecia's warning. Zack was once more wandering around town.  
  
"It has been so much fun today. And the most unbelievable thing about all this is that I have witnessed the marriage between Cloud and Tifa, which I think any Final Fantasy game players would have wanted to witness for themselves. Now Cloud and Tifa are having their honeymoon and only I, a boy from the real world, who knows about it for sure," Zack thought to himself as he walked towards the water tower.  
  
As he walked closer to the tower, he notices a girl sitting at the foot of the tower. He walked closer and realized that it was the girl that he saw the other night, the one that was looking at the stars by the window. This time, the girl had her legs tucked in her arms and was looking blankly forward. Wanting to know who she was, Zack walked towards her. The girl noticed Zack walking towards her and looked up at him. Zack stopped and stared at her face. It wasn't so bright outside that night, so Zack couldn't tell much of the girl's face. He could only see that she was wearing a sleeveless bright-blue blouse and dark-blue jeans.  
  
Staring at each other, Zack smiled at the girl, "Hi. What's your name?"  
  
"Amber Rouge," the girl answered softly.  
  
"Amber? That's a nice name," admired Zack, trying to start a conversation.  
  
"Thanks," Amber said, as if she wasn't in the mood to even open her mouth.  
  
"I'm Zack Nurvana. You can call me Zack," Zack continued.  
  
Amber just nodded and then continued to stare blankly at the floor again.  
  
Zack stood still for a short while, then walked towards Amber's left. Standing beside her, Zack looked at her face. Now that he was closer to Amber, he could see her a lot clearer. She had ocean-blue eyes and there were a few stripes of dark-blue along her black hair. But there was something else about her face. Her face showed feelings of sadness and grief. Kneeling down slowly, Zack looked at her face even carefully. He was surprised when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes.  
  
"What's wrong? Why are you so sad?" Zack asked her in concern.  
  
"I miss them so much," Amber said softly, in a way like as if she was going to cry.  
  
"Who?" Zack asked.  
  
"My father and mother," she answered.  
  
"What happened? Did they leave and still have not yet return."  
  
Before Zack finished, she muttered softly, "They died."  
  
That surprised Zack a lot.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know."  
  
Still in her tucked in position, Amber put her forehead on her arm, covering her face from Zack.  
  
"It's all right."  
  
Zack just stared at her, feeling so guilty to have brought up such a conversation. As he continued to stare at her, he started to hear soft sobbing. He realized that it was from Amber. Now, he felt really guilty for making her cry.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry to bring up about your." Zack, trying to apologize.  
  
Before he could finish, she suddenly broke free from her tucked position and fell onto Zack. As she placed her head on Zack's shoulder, she started to cry. Zack was surprised. But when he realized that Amber was crying, he couldn't think of anything else but to put his arms around her to comfort her.  
  
"T-There, there," uttered Zack, unsure of what to say while trying to comfort Amber.  
  
*********  
  
It was the next morning. Zack was looking out a window from the second floor of the mansion. He was still thinking about what happened the other night, meeting a girl and having to comfort her suddenly in the end. Zack had never done something like that in his whole life. Even if something like this were to happen to him in the real world, he would be the one watching, instead of the one doing all the comforting. But he also couldn't help but to wonder.  
  
"How did her parents die?"  
  
Zack wanted to meet the girl again. He thought back once more on what happened as Amber continued to cry.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Flashback: Amber Rouge  
  
Amber continued crying on Zack's shoulder while he continued to comfort her. After a few minutes, but what seemed to Zack to be hours, she had finally stopped crying.  
  
"Thank you," Amber suddenly whispered.  
  
"Huh?" Zack asked, confused.  
  
"Thank you. for comforting me," Amber continued as she lifted her head off Zack's shoulder, facing down as her hair covered her face from Zack.  
  
"But, if it wasn't for me."  
  
"It's all right."  
  
She stood up. Zack watched her, as she did.  
  
"If it weren't for you, I would still be sad. Thank you," she continued, with her soft voice.  
  
She then walked towards her house. Zack watched her as she entered her house. After a short while of sitting on the ground, he got up. He looked at Amber's house before he walked back to the mansion.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Zack puts his hands on the windowpane as he leans on them. A short time has passed and he was still in his deep thoughts. He really wants to meet with Amber again because of all the questions he wanted to ask her.  
  
After thinking to himself for a while longer, he finally decided, "Okay, that's it! I'm going to meet her!"  
  
"Meet who, boy?" suddenly Zack heard behind him.  
  
Zack turned around to see Barret, looking at him suspiciously.  
  
"Well, boy?"  
  
"Um, nobody."  
  
Barret raised one eyebrow and started to walk away.  
  
"If you have a girlfriend, don't be shy and hide it from everyone."  
  
"Hey!" Zack shouted and turned his whole body towards Barret, who was roaring with laughter.  
  
"I do NOT have a girlfriend, Barret!" Zack protested loudly as Barret walked down the staircase, still roaring with laughter.  
  
*********  
  
Zack was standing outside Amber's house, looking up at it.  
  
"Here I am," Zack sighed as he looked back down, "Let's go."  
  
He walked towards the front door of the house and stopped.  
  
"If this was like the game, I could just walk right in and have no problem, but I think that's kind of rude. So I guess I'm knocking."  
  
Zack knocked on the door. He waited for a while but there wasn't any respond. He knocked once more and waited again. Still no respond.  
  
"Is she upstairs?"  
  
He looks up, trying to see through one of the windows.  
  
"Darn, can't see anything."  
  
He tries knocking on the door again, this time harder. He waited for a while again, but still nothing.  
  
"Well, I guess the only choice left is. Well, walking in," Zack told himself.  
  
He opened the door and entered the house. Inside, he looked around.  
  
"This is exactly the same as Tifa's house in the game," Zack thought.  
  
He looked in front of him, "There's the kitchen."  
  
He turned to his right, "And there's the staircase."  
  
"Since there isn't anyone in the kitchen," Zack thought to himself, looking inside the kitchen.  
  
He looked up the staircase, "She should be upstairs then."  
  
He walked slowly up the staircase. Upstairs, he looked around once more.  
  
"Two rooms, just like in the game."  
  
He checked the room in front of the staircase.  
  
"Still the same, the master bedroom."  
  
He then walked towards the door of the second room, which was closed.  
  
"If there wasn't any changes." he grabbed the doorknob, ". this should be Tifa's room."  
  
He turned the knob and opened the door. What he saw right in front of him completely surprised him.  
  
"AAAHHHHH!!! What are you doing!?"  
  
Zack's whole face turned red, redder than it had ever been. He immediately turned around.  
  
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry!"  
  
Amber was changing her clothes and when Zack opened the door, she had exposed her bare back to him. Covering herself with a cloth, she walked over to the door and shut it.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Amber. Really I am. I didn't know that you were."  
  
"Enough, Zack," Amber answered from her room, "Stop apologizing."  
  
"Well. I'm sorry," Zack apologized once more, his head facing down.  
  
Then, the door behind Zack opened. Zack turned around to see Amber, all dressed.  
  
"Didn't anyone teach you to knock before entering someone else's room or even, their house?" Amber asked Zack, playfully.  
  
"Well, actually I did knock at the front door but nobody answered."  
  
"That was you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Actually, I was doing my work in my room when I heard your knocking and wanted to call out to you through my window, but I was a little untidy and wanted to get dressed first."  
  
"I'm sorry that I entered your house and also your room without permission. But I swear, I only saw your back! That's all, I swear!"  
  
Amber laughed at Zack.  
  
"I've already told you. It's all right. Since you've only saw my bare back, then let's just take it as my 'thank you' to you for what you did for me last night. Kay?"  
  
She winked at Zack. Seeing that, Zack's face turned red again. Amber laughed at him again.  
  
"So, did you want to see me about something?" Amber asked Zack.  
  
"Yes. I wonder if, um, we could get to know each other a little more."  
  
"That would be nice. Let's talk in my room."  
  
"Okay, thanks."  
  
When he entered her room, Zack took a look around.  
  
"It's exactly the same as the game," he thought, "Everything is still at the same position."  
  
The bed was still at the same corner of the room, as well as the desk. The piano was still at the same place, beside the bed. The cupboard was still right in front of the door.  
  
"So, this is your room."  
  
"Sure it is"  
  
She walked to her bed and sat on it.  
  
"So, how shall we start?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, okay," he took a chair and sat on it, "Let's start!" 


	4. Chapter III

CHAPTER III (A): THE PAST TRAGEDY  
  
Zack and Amber had been talking about each other for quite some time. Now, Zack knew more about her. Amber was less than a year younger than him and was born in Kalm Village, the small town southeast from Midgar. Her parents decided that they should move to Nibelheim, some years ago, because of the clearer fresh air.  
  
"After all, Kalm Village is just a few miles away from the pollution-filled city, Midgar," Amber explained to Zack.  
  
Now, Zack was about to ask the question that he had wanted to ask her since that morning.  
  
"Amber, can I ask you, how were your parents like?" Zack asked, nervous not to make her cry like the other night.  
  
Amber was surprised by the question. She looked away from Zack. Zack could see that she was upset. He wanted to say that she could answer his question some other time but Amber then looked back at him with the same warm, friendly smile that she had been showing since they started talking about each other.  
  
"Both my parents, Clarence and Gina Rouge, were adventurers. They liked to venture into caves, abandoned mines, old ruins and any other places that they know of. I sometimes join them in their adventures. If it wasn't exploring, then it would be hiking. Since they often do this sought of things, they had been attacked by monsters a lot. Other than just being a couple of adventurers, my father was a skilled swordsman and my mother was an accurate shooter. My father's weapon was a sword passed down in his family for generations, while my mother's weapon was a small revolver."  
  
"So, um, what happened? How did your parents. died?"  
  
Amber's smile disappeared as she recalled what happened.  
  
"It was just a week ago. They went to explore an abandoned mako reactor up on Mt. Nibel. I went with them this time. We explored inside the reactor for around half an hour.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: INCIDENT AT THE REACTOR  
  
Amber and her parents are looking everywhere inside the reactor.  
  
"Gina! Amber! Come here!"  
  
Gina and Amber arrive to where Clarence was standing. He shows a door.  
  
"Shall we?"  
  
"Sure!" Amber answered excitedly.  
  
They enter through the door into the next room. The room had rows of capsule-like pods stacked together in a staircase manner from one side of the room to the other. A narrow stairway cut through the rows, leading to a vault-like door. Clarence, Gina and Amber take a look around the large room. A while later, as the family was looking at the different things in the room, suddenly, the vault-like door bursts wide open like as if a huge explosion has just occurred behind it. As smoke spreads everywhere, the pieces of the door were crashing everywhere in the room while Amber and her parents hid behind the pods. Luckily, none of them were harmed when that happened. They regroup.  
  
"Is everyone alright?" Clarence asks in concern of his family.  
  
"Yes, I'm alright, father," Amber assures her father.  
  
"I'm alright, too. But, what was that?" asked Gina.  
  
They look to where the door once was. As the smoke from the explosion slowly lifts, they could see a man-figure standing at the spot where the door was supposed to have been. As more of the smoke lifts, Amber could see the man clearly. He had long and silver hair and wore a black cape. He was holding a very long and mean-looking sword in his right-hand. When Amber looks at the man's face, she realizes that he had the most evil look that she had ever seen on anyone or even anything.  
  
The man walks a little forward but stops when he realizes that there were other people in the reactor together with him. The man, with a dead serious look on his face, holds his sword in his battle position. Seeing this, Clarence and Gina took out their weapons.  
  
"Amber, stay back, okay? I don't want you to get hurt, especially by that sword of his," Clarence ordered.  
  
Amber stood aside, behind her parents.  
  
"Prepare yourself, Gina," Clarence says to Gina, with an excited smile.  
  
"You too, honey," replied Gina, holding her revolver close to her face.  
  
"Humph," the man, suddenly, as he holds down his sword.  
  
"What the?" Clarence is surprised.  
  
The man then slowly walks down the stairway towards them.  
  
"Are you looking down on us!? You're gonna regret that!" Clarence shouts as he charges at the man.  
  
He tries to strike at the man, but with just a quick but simple swing of the man's sword, Clarence's attack was blocked.  
  
"What the?" Clarence, surprised that the man did not even slow down.  
  
"Let me try!" Gina shouted as she aims at the man, who was still walking forward, right towards her.  
  
Gina pulls the trigger, sending a bullet directly towards the man's chest. But again, with a quick but simple swing of his sword, he blocked the bullet, sending it flying to the wall.  
  
"What the?"  
  
Gina is surprised by the man's ability to block her bullet away. As the man continues walking closer and closer towards Gina, his evil gaze seemed to have petrified her at the spot. As the man gets even closer, he raises his sword. Clarence is shocked  
  
"Run, Gina!!"  
  
But his cry did not seem to break the spell the man seemed to have put onto Gina. Then, to Clarence and Amber's shock, the man slashes down his sword at Gina, sending her crashing down the stairway, spilling her blood everywhere along the way.  
  
"Gina!"  
  
"Mother!"  
  
Clarence rushes to Gina, who was laying on the floor as a puddle of blood formed under her motionless body. He holds up the upper part of her bloody body in his hands.  
  
"Gina! Gina!"  
  
Looking at her lifeless face, he knew that she was gone. He puts her down and closes her eyes with his blood-covered hand. Amber rushes over to her mother's body.  
  
"No, it can't be." She looks at her father. Tears were rolling down his face, "No! MOTHER!!"  
  
Amber shouts as she falls to her knees, covering her face as she starts to cry.  
  
"Amber, stand aside. Now!"  
  
As she did, he stood up, glaring at the man who had killed his wife and was still walking slowly and calmly down the stairway.  
  
"You're gonna pay for this. You're gonna PAY for this!!" Clarence swore as he charges at the man once more.  
  
He strikes at the man, but like before, his attack was blocked. However this time, Clarence quickly recovers and turns around to strike the man from behind. As he charges closer and closer, he gives out a war cry as he raises his sword to strike. But his war cry soon was silenced when the man's sword punctured through his body. The man had switch the direction of where the edge of his sword was facing from the front to his back, where it punctured perfectly through Clarence. The man stood still for a while before he pulled out his sword from Clarence's body, which caused a spray of blood from Clarence's body. Clarence drops onto the side of the stairway.  
  
"FATHER!!!" Amber runs to her father's lifeless, blood-covered body, "Father!!!"  
  
She starts crying even worst now. Then, an overwhelming feeling of anger starts to build up inside Amber. She turns to the man, who just passed the door that led Amber and her parents to that room. She rushes down the stairway to the floor and shouts at the man.  
  
"Hey, stop!!" But the man ignored her and continued walking, "Hey, I said stop!"  
  
Amber shouts as she picks up her mother's revolver and takes a shot at the man. She missed the first and second shot but her third went straight for the man's head. However, the man was able to dodge the shot quickly with just a quick movement of his head. Angered and out of bullets, Amber throws the revolver at the man. As the revolver flies towards the man, he, in a blink of an eye, turned around and slashed the revolver in two. That completely surprised Amber as the man turns around again and floats up to the higher platform and starts to walk towards the entrance door of the reactor. Recovering from her shock, Amber runs back to her father's body and takes his sword and runs after the man.  
  
Outside the reactor, the man is slowly walking away from the reactor. Amber runs out from the reactor to the front of the man. From there, she charges at him, but the result of her attack was the same as her father's. Her attack was also blocked, only easier because she wasn't good with a sword. She charges at him again. She tries to strike him but the man was quick enough to turn around and hold her attack with his sword with only his right hand holding it.  
  
"Your sword-handling ability is at its bottom. It would be a waste to show you my sword-handling abilities," the man said for the first time. He then raises his free hand at her, "Enjoy your sleep."  
  
Amber gasped and was then sent flying through the air and to the floor by a powerful force. She felt the pain of her landing on the solid rock floor before she fainted. The man then continues to walk away, leaving behind Amber's motionless body.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
. Luckily for me, three explorers from this town, two men and a woman, were exploring the caves on Mt. Nibel and happened to find their way to the mako reactor where they saw me laying on the floor. The woman rushed to check if I was all right. They knew that I was the daughter of Clarence and Gina and that I would only explore somewhere in the company of my parents. So, the two men went to check inside the reactor to find my parents. They were shocked when they found my parents' bodies. They brought me back to town and looked after me until I fully recovered. When I had finally recovered, they brought me to see my parents' graves behind this house. When I saw the graves, I couldn't help but burst into tears. The woman tried to comfort me. They never asked me what happened at the reactor. They knew that it would be painful for me to recall such a horrible event. I never got to thank them for what they did," Amber, telling her story.  
  
She looks at Zack, "I think you should know who they are. One of the man and the woman just got married yesterday."  
  
"Huh? Cloud and Tifa?"  
  
"Yeah, it was them, and also Vincent. They were the ones that saved me up at the reactor."  
  
"I see."  
  
He walked over to the window. As he looked out the window, he saw the Highwind landing slowly at the open field in front of Nibelheim.  
  
"So, they're back," he thought, "I was too busy listening to Amber's story to realize the Highwind's return."  
  
Just then, he realized something else, "Amber!"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How would you like to thank them now?"  
  
"That would be very nice, if I could,"  
  
Zack turned around towards her, "Then, let's go!"  
  
"Huh? Go where?"  
  
He walked towards the door and stopped to face her.  
  
"Let's go to meet them."  
  
"Huh? But I don't know where they are now."  
  
"But I do," he answered confidently, "So, come on. Lets go."  
  
He left the room.  
  
"What? Do you know them? Hey, wait!"  
  
Amber quickly got up and chased after him.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER III (B): ZACK'S REVELATION  
  
Zack and Amber are coming out from her house. He has explained to her how he met Cloud and Tifa. However, he lied when he told her that he met them when he was wandering around outside Nibelheim. As they walked towards the town entrance, Cloud and Tifa entered the town, hand-in-hand.  
  
"Hi, Cloud. Hi, Tifa," Zack greeted while waving at them.  
  
"Oh, hi, Zack," Tifa greeted back.  
  
"Oh, Amber?" Cloud, surprised when he saw her with Zack, "So you two have just met?"  
  
"Yeah," Amber answers. Her face turns red as she continues, "Last night."  
  
"Anyway, Amber has something to say to you two," Zack explained, quickly changing the subject. He turns to Amber, "Go ahead, Amber."  
  
"Well, um," Amber, turning red in shyness.  
  
"Don't be shy, Amber. A girl should not be too shy," Tifa advises Amber as she gives Cloud a tight hug.  
  
"Well, um," Amber once more, "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me when I had nobody to turn to."  
  
"It's okay. We like to help others that needs help," Cloud explained to her.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So, how was your honeymoon?" Zack asked Cloud and Tifa.  
  
"It was very romantic. Cid really knew what he was doing, didn't he?" Tifa praised, looking at Cloud.  
  
"Yeah, he sure did," Cloud replied to her, giving her a kiss on the lips.  
  
"Hey, Amber. Why don't you come to our place, the mansion?" Tifa asked, looking at the shy girl.  
  
"That would be nice."  
  
"Then, let's go!" Zack said, also excited.  
  
They were just about to walk to the mansion when suddenly they were surprised by a voice laughing evilly in their minds.  
  
"What the?" Zack shouted, nervously looking around.  
  
"That can't be," Tifa gasped, looking around also.  
  
"That voice," Amber whispered to herself, shocked.  
  
Then they look up to see a man in a black cape floating down from the sky, still laughing evilly.  
  
Zack looked at the man, surprised, "What the? It-It's HIM!"  
  
Amber gasped, "It-It's you! From the reactor!"  
  
"Sephiroth!?" Cloud, surprised.  
  
Sephiroth continues his laugh, "So you still remember me, Cloud! I thought so, even after these three long years."  
  
"How can that be!? How can you still be alive!?" Cloud shouted, still surprised.  
  
Barret, RedXIII, Cinna and Vincent then appeared out from the mansion.  
  
"Cloud, what's going o. What the!? Sephiroth!?" Barret shouted when he saw Sephiroth floating in the air in front of Zack and the others.  
  
"How are you still alive!?" RedXIII shouted.  
  
"Is this what Lucrecia's warning was about?" Vincent asked himself.  
  
"So she did come to see you. I knew she would be trouble, but that father of mine," Sephiroth said, shaking his head in disgust.  
  
"Your father!?" Tifa exclaimed, thinking for a while who he was talking about. Then she realizes, "Hojo!"  
  
"What!? He's alive, too!" Vincent, shocked.  
  
"Well, you can say that we are a 'one big, ALIVE family'," Sephiroth said calmly. He stares at Amber, who was completely in fear, "Oh, so you survived. I had underestimated you."  
  
Zack looks at her.  
  
"So she was talking about Sephiroth!" he thought.  
  
Sephiroth then turned his attention to Zack, "And who might this boy be?"  
  
He suddenly teleported and appeared right in front of Zack, surprising everyone, especially Zack, who had falling back.  
  
"Hm," Sephiroth, looking at Zack with his watchful eyes. Then he smiles, "Zack."  
  
That surprised everybody once more.  
  
"H-H-How did you know?" Zack gasped, really shocked.  
  
"Well," Sephiroth floated back to the sky, "Let's just say that there's someone who is very interested in you."  
  
"Who would be interested in me? I'm a just normal boy!"  
  
"No, you're not!" Sephiroth cut in quickly and sharply, surprising Zack.  
  
"I know who you are. You are Zack, the boy from the other world."  
  
Zack gasped, as everyone was surprised to hear that.  
  
"What? Zack? Another world?" Barret, shocked to hear that.  
  
Zack stares at Sephiroth, shocked that someone knew and has now revealed his secret.  
  
Looking at Cloud, Sephiroth exclaimed, "Well, I'll be seeing you, Cloud."  
  
He turns his eyes on Zack, "And you, too, Zack."  
  
He laughs evilly before a light of teleportation suddenly surrounded him. After Sephiroth had teleported away, everyone stared at Zack. Zack looked at each of them, Vincent, RedXIII, Cinna, Barret, Tifa, Cloud and then Amber.  
  
Cloud asked Zack, "Is this true, Zack? Are you really from another world?"  
  
Zack looks at Cloud; his face showed Zack that he did not want to believe it.  
  
"Yes, it's true. I am from another world."  
  
"But-But how did you end up at the plain outside of Nibelheim?" Tifa asked, shocked.  
  
"I don't know. All that I can remember is that I was walking home during a light storm, when suddenly in a flash, I collapsed to the floor. When I woke up, I found myself on a giant rock in the middle of a wide plain where a monster suddenly attacked me. And then the rest, you already know."  
  
"But you told us that you were from Cosmos Canyon?" Tifa exclaimed, disbelieving what she had just heard.  
  
Tifa wanted to say some more when RedXIII suddenly cut in, "Cosmos Canyon?"  
  
Everyone turned their attentions to RedXIII.  
  
"I know everyone who lives in Cosmos Canyon, and I've never seen or heard of a boy name Zack Nurvana in Cosmos Canyon, ever."  
  
"It must be true, then," Vincent said, looking back at Zack, "You are from another world."  
  
"Yes, it's true," Zack, looking down again.  
  
"I can't believe it," Amber suddenly muttered, facing down, her hair covering her eyes.  
  
Surprised, Zack looks at her. Although he couldn't see much of her face, he could tell that she was completely in disbelief.  
  
"I can't believe it," Amber muttered again.  
  
She then looks up at Zack. He was shocked to see tears rolling down her face.  
  
"I can't believe that you lied to me about how you were wandering outside of Nibelheim before you were attacked by the monster."  
  
"Amber." Zack muttered, not knowing what to say.  
  
"I can't believe that you didn't tell me about all this before," Amber continues, starting to sob.  
  
"I told you, everything about me. I told you, my past. I told you about my father and mother. I opened my heart to you, Zack!"  
  
Zack was shocked when he heard that.  
  
"I trusted you, Zack. I trusted you, with all of my heart. I thought that I could trust you with everything, Zack," She faces down again, eyes close, "But I guess I was wrong,"  
  
When she finished, she ran to her house, covering her face as she started to cry.  
  
"Amber!" Zack uttered. He wanted to go after her but he forced himself not to. He looked down, his face covered with feelings of guilt, "I'm sorry, Amber."  
  
Suddenly, Yuffie appears, running into town. When she saw everyone, she stopped to take a short breather.  
  
"Guys, come to the Highwind! There's something that you've just gotta see!"  
  
Everyone quickly left for the Highwind. Before he rushed to follow them, Zack looked back to Amber's house, still feeling guilty. As he rushed off, Amber was laying on her bed in her room, still crying as she covered her face with her arms.  
  
*********  
  
Everyone entered the bridge, including Zack. The decorations that were up for Cloud and Tifa's honeymoon were already taken down.  
  
"I was wondering when you guys were going to get here," Cid exclaimed.  
  
"What is it that was so urgent?" Cloud asked him, seriously.  
  
"Wait and take a look for yourself," Cid said before he started the Highwind.  
  
Zack could feel the Highwind getting higher and higher off the ground. As they got higher and higher, Zack could see the town of Nibelheim disappear to the bottom of the Highwind's view. After the Highwind burst through a thin layer of cloud, everyone was surprised by what they saw at the horizon, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith.  
  
"What, in heaven's name, is that?" Barret exclaimed.  
  
They were looking at a whirlwind-like vortex of blue light at the horizon.  
  
Cid explained to everyone, "If it wasn't for Yuffie's clumsiness, we would not have seen this."  
  
"What did she do?" Tifa asked.  
  
Yuffie then answers her, "Let me answer this. After we were done taking down the decorations, I felt really tired and leaned against the main control system."  
  
Cait Sith then helped her to continue, "Then she accidentally pushed some buttons, sending the Highwind floating up to the sky. Cid was about to scold Yuffie for her clumsiness when we saw this."  
  
"That doesn't answer my question," Barret shouted as he continues to ask again, "What is THAT?"  
  
"We don't know ourselves. The only clue we got about this vortex is where it's coming from," Cid explained.  
  
"Then, let's hear it!" Barret shouted.  
  
Cid's face gets really serious, "The crater."  
  
That surprised everyone, except for Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith again.  
  
"The crater!" Cinna exclaimed, looking at Cloud, "Do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?"  
  
"Sephiroth!?" Yuffie, surprised.  
  
"Yeah, we've just found out that Sephiroth is still alive," RedXIII explained to the three that were not there when Sephiroth appeared.  
  
"Well, Cloud, do you think this has something to do with Sephiroth?" Vincent asked Cloud.  
  
Everyone watched Cloud as he said seriously, "I think this has everything to do with Sephiroth."  
  
"Should we go and check it out?" Tifa asked, looking at Cloud.  
  
"No, I don't think we should go now. He might be expecting us to do that."  
  
"Sephiroth? But what can he do?" Cinna asked.  
  
"Who knows what he is capable of doing with the power that he possesses," Vincent said with serious look on his face.  
  
"Then, what are we going to do?" Cait Sith asked.  
  
"Cid, land the Highwind," Cloud ordered.  
  
"Roger!" Cid, as he operates the machine to land the Highwind.  
  
As he did, Cloud shouted to everyone, "Everyone, start preparing yourselves! We will head for the crater once we're ready!"  
  
Everyone, except Zack, shouted in confirmation of the order.  
  
"Cloud," Zack said softly.  
  
Cloud turns to face Zack, "What is it?"  
  
"Can I come with you? To the crater?"  
  
"But it will be dangerous there, Zack, with all those monsters. Plus, Sephiroth is there, too," Tifa explains to Zack.  
  
"I know, but I still want to go. I want to know what's going on. I want to know who was it that Sephiroth said was interested in me."  
  
"We know how you must feel, kid, but it is still too dangerous at the crater," Barret said.  
  
"I still want to go! I have to," Zack spoke out loud, but everyone was still unsure about that.  
  
"If you won't let me come because I am unable to defend for myself, then teach me to use a weapon!"  
  
After thinking for a while, Cloud agreed, "All right."  
  
Zack looks at Cloud, who turns to face him.  
  
"You will be taught to use a weapon."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Under one condition. You must find a weapon of your own."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's it. You have your own weapon, we'll teach you to use it and you can come."  
  
"But, that's not fair! Where. How am I going to find a weapon?"  
  
"That's the problem you have to solve on your own."  
  
"Can't you just give me a weapon?"  
  
"Sorry, Zack, but we have no other weapons with us other than the ones we are using already," Tifa answered.  
  
Looking at everyone, Zack exclaimed, "Fine. I'll find a weapon of my own."  
  
*********  
  
In the distance, the Highwind can be seen going back down through the thin layer of cloud by Sephiroth. He was floating in the air above the layer of cloud, smiling evilly.  
  
"Why did you hesitate, Cloud? Why didn't you just come to the crater?" he said with a menacing tone.  
  
He laughs, softly but evilly, to himself.  
  
"These three years have changed you, Cloud, but slightly. I'm sure your fighting abilities are still the same or, maybe, even better."  
  
He laughs again, "However, I'm sure that you will come, just like you did last time. And I'm sure that boy will be coming, too."  
  
He laughs evilly and loudly before he suddenly teleports himself away. 


	5. Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV (A): BACK TOGETHER  
  
The Highwind has landed on the field. Everyone has gone back to Nibelheim to get themselves ready, except Zack. Once in Nibelheim, he immediately went to the weaponry store that Cait Sith had told him about. But when he asked the storekeeper for a nice-looking rod, he discovered another problem that he have had since he came to this world, money problem. Although he still has some money with him, the money used in this world was gil, not any of the money used in Zack's original world. He exited the store, disappointed a little, as the storekeeper politely asked Zack to come again.  
  
*********  
  
Over half an hour has passed as night comes, but Zack still has not found a weapon. He is wandering around town, thinking of what to do.  
  
"AH!! This is hopeless! I can't think of anything!" Zack shouted in frustration as he stopped in his pace.  
  
Then he realizes that he had stopped in front of Amber's house. He looks up to her bedroom window. Her room was brightly lit. Zack started to feel his guilt once more.  
  
"Should I?" He walks to the front door; his hand reaches for the knob but then stops, "No, maybe I shouldn't."  
  
He pulls back his hand. Then, suddenly, he hears sobbing sounds. He looks up and realizes that it was coming from Amber's room. Now, he feels even worse.  
  
"Maybe I should. I have to say sorry to her. She might feel better then."  
  
He then opens the door and enters the house. Inside the house, Zack went upstairs for Amber's room. In front of her bedroom door, Zack hesitated to knock the door. He thought to himself if he should or not. Then he hears Amber's sobbing again. He then decided again to do it. He hesitated a little before he knocked the door.  
  
"Who is it?" Amber called out from inside her room.  
  
Zack could sense the crying note when she called out.  
  
Zack hesitated again as he answered, "It's. It's me. Zack."  
  
"Go away, Zack! I don't want to see you!"  
  
"It's all right. I-I." he looks down to the floor, "I just came to apologize for not being honest with you before."  
  
Zack starts to feel his guilt once more, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Why did you do it, Zack? Why did you lie to me about everything?" Amber finally replied after a short pause.  
  
When she did, Zack could sense that her crying had lessen a little. Still feeling guilty, he thinks along as he answered her.  
  
"It's because I. It's because. It's because I knew that no one would believe me. no matter how many times I say it's true. That's the only reason why I lied about myself."  
  
He continues, closing his eyes, feeling really guilty, "I'm sorry."  
  
Another short pause before she said, "You could've at least tried me."  
  
"I knew that but. but I. but I thought. you, too, wouldn't have believed me."  
  
Amber's crying had turned into soft sobs now.  
  
After a long pause, Zack then continued, "Well, um. that-that was all I wanted to say to you. I'll-I'll. I'll see you some other time then."  
  
As he finishes, he turned around to walk away.  
  
"Wait!" suddenly Amber called.  
  
Zack stops and looks around. The bedroom door opened, Amber stood behind it.  
  
She sobs once more before she asked Zack, "Did you mean it? When you said that you were sorry?"  
  
Zack looks at Amber's face. He was shocked when he saw her red eyes caused by her crying since that evening.  
  
"Yes, I did," Zack answered as he turned around to face her. He faces down, his eyes shut, and continues, "I'm sorry, for not telling you the truth and making you cry. I'm sorry."  
  
Amber sobs once again before she says, "Promise me, kay?"  
  
She wipes away some tears off her face.  
  
"Promise me, that you will tell me the truth about yourself and never lie to me again."  
  
Zack realizes that she was feeling a lot better, "I'll promise you. if you promise me that you'll stop crying now."  
  
Hearing that, Amber laughed softly and wiped away the rest of her tears.  
  
"Okay, I promise," Amber said, smiling her warm and happy smile at him.  
  
"That's good," Zack, feeling glad when he saw her smile.  
  
"So, did anything happen while I was crying like a baby?" Amber asked Zack, in her usual cheerful voice.  
  
Zack laughs at her joke, but it was only for a moment.  
  
"Well, actually something did happen," Zack answered seriously, "Something that involved Sephiroth."  
  
Hearing that, Amber's smile disappeared.  
  
*********  
  
Zack is now in Amber's room with Amber. He was telling her about the mysterious vortex that he and everyone else saw when they were on the Highwind and how he wanted to go with Cloud and the others to the crater.  
  
"Now I'm still looking for a weapon and I have to admit. I'm really stuck."  
  
"Sephiroth. I wish that he'll pay for what he did to my father and mother," Amber scowled angrily.  
  
"Then why don't you go with Cloud and the others, too?" Zack asked, "Why you go and make him pay, personally?"  
  
"No," she answered. Looking away from Zack, she continued, "I-I can't."  
  
Surprised, Zack asked, "Why not?"  
  
"It's just that I'm too weak to use my father's sword and I can't aim at all with a gun."  
  
"Being weak is a problem, but trouble aiming can be helped!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Vincent uses a gun as his weapon. Maybe he can teach you how to aim."  
  
"Do you think he will?"  
  
"I think he would. But if he says that he won't because you're a girl, we'll just remind him about Tifa, Yuffie and Cinna."  
  
Amber laughed at that as he continued, "If he still has any other reason, we'll just say that it's for your father and mother."  
  
"Thanks, Zack. So, what about your problem then?"  
  
"I don't know. I have no money to buy a weapon. So, what can I do?"  
  
He sat down on a chair, trying to think of a solution. Amber thought for a while before she got an idea.  
  
"Zack, do you think you can handle a sword?"  
  
Zack looks up at her, "Sure, I think I can."  
  
"Okay then," she said before she got up and exited the room, while Zack just watched her.  
  
When she exited the room, Zack, curious, got up and followed her from behind.  
  
Amber had gone to the other room, the master bedroom, and now stood in front of a cupboard. She opened one of the drawers and took out a sword, which was in its sheath. She then took out a small pouch and put it in her pocket. After that, she walked towards Zack who was watching her, curiously, from the doorway.  
  
"Here's my father's sword, the Ultimega Sword," she said as she holds out the sword.  
  
"What? You're lending me your father's sword?"  
  
"It's all right. I think father wouldn't mind, since I can't use it," she explained as she put the sword in Zack's hand.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
He took the sword out of its sheath and studied it. The sword was long but thin, making it kind of light. The edge of the sword was really sharp and the sword curved out a little at its tip. Two jewels of different shapes were placed along the hilt of the sword.  
  
"Wow, this is a cool sword," he admired as he raised the sword in the air with one hand, "It's quite light even though it looks to be heavy."  
  
"Father said that it was to trick the enemy that he was very strong to be using a heavy sword, when really he was just using a light sword," Amber explained to Zack, but laughed as she continued, "But actually this trick of his never seem to effect the enemy one bit."  
  
Zack laughed, too, when he heard that. Zack then looks at Amber, smiling warmly.  
  
"Thanks, Amber. You've helped me solve my problem and you are lending me your father's sword, too. Thanks. This means a lot to me."  
  
Hearing that, she quickly faced down, trying to hide her blushing face, just like a shy schoolgirl, "You're-You're welcome."  
  
Zack laughed when he noticed that. Amber just smiled while still blush.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER IV (B): CLARENCE AND GINA  
  
Zack and Amber are heading to the mansion. Zack had asked Amber what was in the small pouch that she took out from the drawer earlier. She told him that it was her life savings that she had kept since she was small. She explained that it was to buy a pistol; after all, Sephiroth had cut her mother's revolver into two. After buying a pistol, the Star Achiever, from the weaponry store that Zack had visited earlier, they went to find Cloud in the mansion.  
  
Along the way to the mansion, they could see Barret, like before, telling a bedtime story to Marlene through the same window of the same bedroom, but this time, together with Cait Sith. Cid was, like before, sitting on one of the floor-level windows of the mansion with one of his legs dangling, smoking another cigarette, but this time he was holding his spear in his right hand, with its bladed end to the ground. He was resting after having some practice swings with his spear, the Venus Gospel. Yuffie, however, was standing on the fence, the one surrounding the mansion, practicing what seems to Zack to be tai chi. RedXIII and Cinna were training in a practice battle against each other. When Zack and Amber did not see Cloud or Tifa, they guessed that the couple was inside.  
  
When Cid saw Zack and Amber walking together towards the front door of the mansion, he couldn't help but tease them.  
  
"So you two have gotten back together, eh?"  
  
Hearing this, Yuffie, RedXIII and Cinna stopped doing what they were doing and looked at Zack and Amber.  
  
As both of the two's faces turn red in embarrassment, Zack exclaimed, "Hey, you said it like as if there is something going on between Amber and I!"  
  
Cid laughed joyfully, "It was just a joke, kid. Don't take it so seriously."  
  
"Humph!" Zack sighs loudly.  
  
"But it is nice to see that the two of you are together again," Yuffie explained.  
  
"Yeah," Cinna agreed.  
  
"Well," Amber said, still feeling embarrassed, "Thank you for your concern."  
  
Cid then notices Zack's sword, "So, you've managed to get yourself a weapon after all. I'm surprised."  
  
"Thanks to Amber. This was her father's sword, but don't get her wrong, she didn't do this out of respect for her father. It's just that."  
  
Zack tries to assure everyone but doesn't know what to say.  
  
"Don't worry, Zack. We know what happened to Amber's parents," RedXIII explained to Zack.  
  
"Damn that Sephiroth!" Cid angrily cursed suddenly, "Killing them and even trying to kill Amber! Damn him!"  
  
Zack and Amber were surprised to hear that from Cid.  
  
"Thank you, sir. Thank you for being so concern of me," Amber thanked Cid, bowing her head to him.  
  
"Hey, you don't have to be so formal, Amber," Cid said as she raises her head, "And don't call me 'sir', all right? Just call me Cid."  
  
"Okay. Cid."  
  
Cid smiled, "Now that's more like it."  
  
"Zack," Yuffie called as Zack looks at her, "If you're looking for Cloud, he's in the dining room with Tifa."  
  
"Thanks, Yuffie," Zack answered aloud to Yuffie.  
  
He looks at Amber, "Let's go."  
  
They then enter the mansion.  
  
*********  
  
In the dining room, Cloud and Tifa were sitting at the dining table, eating some dessert that Tifa had just made earlier, but Cloud was concentrating more on something else than the dessert in front of him.  
  
Zack and Amber were about to enter through the door when Cloud suddenly spoke out, "I still can't believe this."  
  
Tifa was surprised when he suddenly spoke out as she stared at him.  
  
"I still can't believe that Sephiroth is alive," Cloud continues.  
  
Zack then stood at the side of the door. Amber followed.  
  
"No one did, Cloud. Everyone was surprised when he suddenly appeared," Tifa, looking down at the table.  
  
"But that's not all. He knew Zack before he even met him," Cloud exclaimed.  
  
Zack was surprised when heard him say that.  
  
Cloud continued, "I wonder who was the one that told him about Zack. How is Zack involved in all of this?"  
  
Zack is surprised when he realizes how much Cloud cared about him.  
  
"I don't know, but do you think the one that told Sephiroth about Zack, may also be the one that revived him?" Tifa asked.  
  
Cloud thought seriously before he answered, "I don't know, but he or she might be."  
  
After he finished, there was a long pause. Zack stood still for a while before he walked into the room, pretending that he had not overheard their conversation. When he and Amber entered, Cloud and Tifa looked at them.  
  
"Got my weapon, Cloud!" Zack shows the sword, "Now teach me."  
  
"I'm amazed. I didn't think that you could get one," Tifa admitted, looking at him.  
  
"Well, actually it's all thanks to Amber. This was her."  
  
"Her father's," Cloud interrupted Zack as he took a bite of Tifa's dessert.  
  
"But-But don't get her wrong, Cloud!"  
  
He was going to say some more when Cloud says, "It's all right, Zack."  
  
Zack looks at Cloud before Tifa explained to him and Amber, "We knew her father and mother three years ago."  
  
Amber is surprised, "But why have I never seen you before until the incident at the reactor?"  
  
Tifa then explained to Amber, "Well, let me explain how we met first. Cloud and I were walking around town one night, three years ago.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: THE HAPPY COUPLES  
  
Cloud and Tifa were walking around Nibelheim, hand-in-hand. They were just spending time together that cool night. After almost half an hour, they headed back to the mansion. As they did, they see a man and a woman come out from the house where Tifa once lived in.  
  
"Oh, so you're the couple that is living in this house," Tifa said to the couple.  
  
"No," the woman answered, looking at her, "It was us, the family, that is living in this house."  
  
"Oh, who else is in your family?" Cloud asked, curious.  
  
"We have a young daughter, Amber. She's sleeping now," the man answered.  
  
Tifa looks up to the bedroom window, which was brightly lit, "I don't think so."  
  
The man and the woman then look up to the window.  
  
The woman then says, "My, my, my. I told that girl to go to bed but she did not listen."  
  
The man laughs, "That's how children are these days, darling. They always try to stay up longer. It's all right."  
  
Tifa also laughs, "It must be true if a loving couple says so."  
  
The four of them laugh.  
  
"Let me guess. You two are also a couple," the woman guessed.  
  
"Yes, we are," Tifa answered, hugging Cloud.  
  
"Well, it really makes me happy to see a younger couple like you two," the man said, smiling friendly.  
  
"Oh, we've forgotten to introduce ourselves. I'm Cloud and this is Tifa."  
  
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Clarence and this is my wife, Gina. As you know already, we've just move into town lately."  
  
"Yes, we did, because that used to be my house," Tifa explained to Clarence.  
  
"It was," Gina, surprised.  
  
"So, where are you living now?" Clarence asked Tifa.  
  
"Now, I live together with my hero," Tifa said, hugging Cloud again, this time tighter.  
  
Gina laughed, "That's a nice thing to say about the one you love."  
  
"No, it's true. Cloud did rescue me once, no, more than that. That's why I love him so much," Tifa explained to Gina, still hugging Cloud.  
  
"I see. That's different than any other couples that we've met in our lifetime," Clarence explained before he started laughing.  
  
"Well, we'll be seeing you some other time then," Cloud said as he and Tifa started to walk to the mansion.  
  
"Bye," Tifa, waving at Clarence and Gina.  
  
"Bye and have a goodnight!" Clarence, as he and Gina waved back at them.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
.And then Cloud and I went back here that night," Tifa, finishing her story.  
  
"And that's was how we met your father and mother, Amber," Cloud said, facing her.  
  
"But that didn't answer my question. Why have I never seen you two until the incident at the reactor?" Amber asked the two, once more.  
  
"Well, we never went to visit your house, but we continue to meet with your father and mother as we often went exploring together with them," Tifa explained.  
  
Amber then recalled, "Come to think of it, I remember father and mother saying, a few times, that they were going exploring with some friends they met in this town. I guess they were talking about you two."  
  
Cloud nodded, "They should be."  
  
"After knowing your father and mother for so long, we know that they will understand if you lend your father's sword to Zack," Tifa explained to Amber, "Anyway, we know that your father would think that it would be a waste of his sword if no one was going to use it again."  
  
Amber laughed softly, "Yeah, that's what I thought too."  
  
"So, Cloud, are you going to teach me?" Zack asked Cloud.  
  
Cloud thought for a moment before he answered, "Well, I guess so."  
  
Zack is surprised. Cloud looks at him.  
  
"After all, you've done your part of this, now it's my turn." 


	6. Chapter V

CHAPTER V (A): TRAINING TIME  
  
"All right!" Zack cheered, but then he remembered, "Oh, could Amber be taught to use her weapon, too?"  
  
"Huh?" Tifa, surprised, "Why?"  
  
"Well, Sephiroth killed her parents," Zack explained, feeling sorry as he looks at Amber, "So, she should have a chance to get Sephiroth bac."  
  
Zack was about to finish his sentence when Cloud suddenly snapped at him, "Zack! I can't believe you!"  
  
Zack is surprised by that as Cloud continued, "I can't believe that you are going to risk another person's life in this! Sephiroth CAN'T be easily defeated, Zack! Amber might get killed herself!"  
  
Zack is shocked when he heard that, but then Amber explained to Cloud, "No, Cloud. It was I, myself, who wanted to go."  
  
Surprised, Zack stares at Amber as she continued, "I wanted to go myself. Zack didn't need to ask me to go, because I've already decided to go!"  
  
This surprised everyone, including Zack.  
  
"I see," Cloud uttered, then thinks for a moment, "Do you really want to go?"  
  
Amber answered, solemnly, "Yes, I do."  
  
Zack looked at Cloud. Cloud was thinking again.  
  
"All right then. I'll get Vincent to teach you how to use that pistol of yours."  
  
Amber is surprised as she looks at her pistol that was in its holster, which was exposed so freely to anyone.  
  
"Oh." she laughed, feeling a little silly.  
  
"That's great then. When do we start?" Zack asked, impatiently.  
  
"We'll start your lessons tomorrow morning. We'll tell Vincent about this ourselves," Cloud informed them.  
  
Tifa then advises the two, "Now, get some rest, kay? You will need as much energy as you can get tomorrow, especially you, Zack."  
  
"Okay, thanks. Goodnight," Zack said before he waved at them and walked to the door.  
  
"Goodnight," Amber said to Cloud and Tifa before she followed Zack.  
  
*********  
  
Zack and Amber are walking together towards her house.  
  
"Thanks for standing up for me, Amber," Zack said as they were walking.  
  
"It's nothing, really," she answered him, walking ahead of him.  
  
Just then, they reached her front door.  
  
"Well, um, I guess this is, um, goodnight," Zack said to Amber, shyly.  
  
She turns around to look at him, smiling her warm smile, "Yeah, I-I guess so."  
  
"Well, goodnight. Get as much rest as you can, okay? Just like Tifa told us, we'll gonna need a lot of energy for tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, I will," she answered, still smiling. She then opened the door and entered through the door. She turned around and slowly closed the door. But before she closed the door, she looked at Zack, "Thanks for everything, Zack. Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
She then closes the door. Zack continues to stare at the door after she did. He then slowly walked to the mansion. Taking a few steps, he stopped and started thinking to himself again.  
  
"Why do I feel like this?" He looks back to Amber's house, "Why did I just feel like. I couldn't say goodnight to her?"  
  
He shook his head and walked on, "I wonder."  
  
Inside Amber's house, after closing the door, Amber stood behind the door, still in the same position as she was as she closed the door. Finally, she turned around and leaned on the door.  
  
"What am I feeling? Why did I feel like I couldn't say goodnight to him?"  
  
She looks down to the floor, "Do I. Do I."  
  
"Do I like her?" Zack wondered.  
  
"Do I like him?" Amber asked herself.  
  
*********  
  
The next morning arrived. Zack is outside the mansion, having some practice swings, trying to get use to the sword's weight. Then, Cloud comes out of the mansion. Following behind him was Vincent.  
  
"So, you're already preparing yourself," Cloud, impressed.  
  
"Yeah, I am," Zack answered, still swinging the sword around.  
  
"It's smart of you to start off by getting use to your sword's weight, because if you don't, you will have problems trying to control the sword," Cloud explained.  
  
Amber then arrives, "Good morning!"  
  
Everyone greeted her back as she stopped in front of Cloud and Vincent, "So, when do we start?"  
  
Cloud then announces, "Okay, Zack. I think you should be used to your sword's weight by now. Let's begin!"  
  
A few hours passed. Zack and Amber have been in training, non-stop. Vincent had been teaching Amber to concentrate her aim on her targets by relaxing herself and staying calm by taking in easy breaths. Her targets were seven wooden planks of different sizes but same range hanging on a string. Zack was taught to stay calm in every battle that he may find himself in and also to swing his sword properly, so as not to hurt himself or loose his balance when he attacks the enemy because there are chances of his enemy dodging most of his attacks.  
  
Now, Zack and Amber are taking a short rest. They are sitting together under a tree on the mansion's front yard, where they were training earlier. Zack has his right leg stretch out, while the other tucked in his arms as he rests his head on them. Amber, on the other hand, has both her legs tucked in her arms.  
  
"So, how is your aiming now, Amber?"  
  
"It's getting better, I think."  
  
"Well, I'm sure that it'll get even better if you try harder."  
  
"Thanks, Zack," she replied, blushing a little before she continued, "So, how was your training?"  
  
"It's going well, too. Cloud's a good teacher. I think I should get better pretty soon," Zack answers her, smiling excitedly.  
  
"That's good to hear."  
  
There was a short pause.  
  
"Do you want any drinks, Amber?"  
  
"Oh, no, it's all right. I'm fine."  
  
"Ah, come on," Zack gets up, "It's all right. I don't mind getting you a drink."  
  
"Oh, okay then," she said softly.  
  
"So, what would you like?"  
  
"Oh, just a glass of water. That's all."  
  
"All right, a glass of water, coming up!" Zack shouted before running off into the mansion.  
  
Amber smiled happily while watching him as he did. When he disappeared into the mansion, she blushes a little, still smiling.  
  
*********  
  
Hours passed as Zack and Amber were training to use their weapon, Zack's Ultimega Sword and Amber's Star Achiever. This time, Zack was taught to attack his target, a thick log standing upright, and also to be quick on his feet for his sword's weight may affect his agility on the field. Amber was taught to aim her targets, which were still wooden planks hanging on a string, however this time, of different distances but of the same size. As evening arrives, Zack's training was about to be done but Amber's was already done.  
  
"Well done, Amber, you're done your training. The rest you'll have to learn on your own on the field," Vincent announced.  
  
Amber bows her head to Vincent, "Thanks, Vincent. I'll do my best."  
  
"That's great, Amber!" Zack shouted, feeling happy for her.  
  
Looking at him, she smiled at Zack with her cheerful smile. Zack smiled back at her.  
  
"Amber, why don't you go inside and rest?" Cloud suggested to Amber.  
  
"Okay," Amber answered.  
  
Amber wished Zack good luck in his training before going inside.  
  
"Okay, on with your training, Zack," Cloud shouted as Vincent walked to Cloud's side.  
  
"Right!" Zack shouted.  
  
It wasn't long before Zack was done with his training. Cloud had gone inside the mansion. Zack was going to follow when he saw Vincent still standing at the yard, looking at the targets that Amber had been practicing her aiming on. Suddenly, Vincent took out his gun, the Death Penalty, and shot all the targets off the string they were hanging onto. Each of the planks went flying in the air before hitting the ground. Zack was completely amazed.  
  
"What quick and accurate aiming!" Zack thought to himself as Vincent put his gun back into its holster.  
  
Vincent turned around and walked pass Zack into the mansion. Zack shook off his amazement and followed him.  
  
*********  
  
CHAPTER V (B): NIGHT BEFORE THE BEGINNING  
  
Zack is looking for Amber. He enters the dining room where he saw Tifa cooking dinner, wearing her cute apron again.  
  
Tifa saw him, "Oh, so you're done?"  
  
"Yup," Zack answered her, smiling happily.  
  
She smiled back, "That's good."  
  
She continued with her cooking, "So, ready to fight a monster?"  
  
"Not quite, but I think I'll do fine."  
  
"Well, I think you'll just do great."  
  
"Thanks," Zack said. He then looked around, "Have you seen Amber?"  
  
"Yes?" Amber, suddenly, as she entered the room.  
  
When she realized that Zack was in the room, "Zack, are you done?"  
  
Turning towards her, Zack answered, smiling happily again, "Yup, Amber, I've finished my training."  
  
She smiled back, "That's good."  
  
They stared at each other for a short while when Tifa shouted, "Amber, do you want to help or not?"  
  
"Oh, sorry, Tifa. I'm coming," Amber rushes over to where Tifa stood.  
  
Zack watched her as she did, "Huh? What's going on?"  
  
"Amber's helping me cook dinner," Tifa explained.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, she wanted to learn how to cook and so, I'm teaching her," Tifa explained to Zack. Looking at Amber, "After all, every girl should know how to cook."  
  
"Well, that's great, Amber!" he said to her as she started to blush, like a little schoolgirl.  
  
"Well, actually, I think she just wanted to cook for you, Zack!" Tifa teased.  
  
Both Amber and Zack were surprised as their faces started to blush.  
  
Zack quickly exclaimed to Tifa, who was laughing joyfully, "Hey, stop teasing us!"  
  
"It's a joke, Zack," she explained, still laughing, "Sorry for teasing you, Amber."  
  
She continued laughing for a short while before she asked Zack, "Zack, why don't you go and do something else while Amber and I cook dinner?"  
  
"Okay," he answered. Then he looks at Amber, "I'll be looking forward to it."  
  
Amber blushed again. Tifa saw this.  
  
"Don't worry, Zack. I'll let her cook some dishes for you to taste."  
  
Surprised, both Zack and Amber blush again as Tifa laughed once again.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
*********  
  
Dinner was done around half an hour later. Now everyone is in the dining room, seated in their seats, except Tifa, Amber, Cait Sith, RedXIII and Cinna. Tifa and Amber were busy serving the dishes. After they were done, Tifa sat beside Cloud, while Amber sat beside Zack.  
  
"Okay, everybody, let's eat!" Tifa announced.  
  
Cait Sith, being a cat on the back of a giant stuffed mog, ate his dinner on the mog. RedXIII and Cinna were not good at sitting down on normal chairs, so they chose to eat their dishes on the floor. Although they would be eating like dogs, they did not mind it.  
  
"Zack, why don't you try this?" Tifa, looking at Zack while pushing a dish of a nicely boiled fish towards him a little.  
  
Zack looked at it as Tifa explained, "This one was done by Amber."  
  
He was surprised. He took a glimpse at Amber, who was blushing a little.  
  
"Go ahead, kid! Tell us what you think about it," Cid said.  
  
"Yeah, come on, Zack! I'm sure Amber wants to hear it from you!" Yuffie exclaimed.  
  
Zack took another glimpse at Amber. She was blushing even more.  
  
He then faced at everyone, "All right!"  
  
He took a pair of chopsticks and picked a piece of the fish's meat. Everyone, especially Amber, anxiously watched him as he put it into his mouth. He took a few bites.  
  
"Wow, this tastes great, Amber!" Zack said loudly as he looked at her, smiling.  
  
She smiled; glad to hear that from Zack. Zack then took another piece of the fish's meat.  
  
"Since you liked that one, how about this one?" Tifa holds out to him, a dish of stir-fried vegetables, "This was also done by Amber."  
  
"All right," Zack answered, excited.  
  
He picked some of the vegetables with his chopsticks. Everyone once again watched him anxiously, especially Amber, as he put them into his mouth. He took another few bites.  
  
"This is delicious, Amber!"  
  
Amber once again smiled, feeling really glad and happy now.  
  
Tifa laughed before she announced, "Okay, everyone! That is all for Amber's cooking! Now, let's eat!"  
  
*********  
  
Before half an hour, everyone was done with their dinner.  
  
"That was great, Tifa!" complimented Cait Sith.  
  
"It was delicious," Barret said.  
  
"It was really good, Tifa!" Marlene exclaimed.  
  
"Amber's wasn't bad, too," Cid said as he spied Amber blushing a little.  
  
"Well, thank you, everyone," Tifa said as she and Amber slowly cleaned up the dishes.  
  
"Oh, let me help," Zack said, as he got up and started to take some empty dishes from the table.  
  
"Oh, if that's the case, then I can relax for today," Tifa said as she put the dishes, that she was carrying, into the sink. She turns to face Zack and Amber, "You and Amber don't mind helping me to clean the dishes, right?"  
  
When Zack and Amber heard that, they both blushed.  
  
"Okay then," Tifa said before walking out the room, "See you two later."  
  
Everyone followed her out, leaving Zack and Amber standing with the dishes. They looked at each other for a moment and then continued to clean the dishes up. Zack went to collect the dishes on the table while Amber started to wash the dishes that were in the sink. Since there were two sinks, Zack could wash the dishes together with Amber. They slowly washed the dishes for a while.  
  
"They were really good, Amber," Zack suddenly said, surprising Amber a little. He then looks at her, "Your boiled fish and stir-fried vegetables. They were really nice."  
  
She blushes a little, "They weren't that nice, Zack."  
  
"No," Zack said, surprising her again, "They were really good, Amber. You're really a good cook"  
  
Amber blushes again, "Thank you, Zack."  
  
*********  
  
It is the next morning now. Everyone has got up early today. Cloud had planned that they leave for the crater that morning. Zack was practicing a few swings with his sword in front of the mansion. Cid was sitting under the tree, smoking a cigarette while watching Zack. Yuffie was squatting down on the roof of the mansion, looking towards the horizon. Everyone else was inside the mansion, except Amber. She still hasn't come out from her house. A few minutes passed before Zack went to rest under the tree with Cid.  
  
"Getting tired, kid?"  
  
"No, I'm just taking a rest before we leave for the crater."  
  
"You'd better be prepared, kid. The monsters in the crater were tough when we went in there for the first time. Who knows how tough the monsters will be now. And there's also Sephiroth. I tell you, kid, he isn't somebody that you want to mess with. He's a very powerful fellow."  
  
Zack thought to himself, "I knew that already. After all, I defeated him several in the game, but I wonder what will happen when we meet with Sephiroth."  
  
Just then, Amber arrives at the gate of the mansion, "Hi, Zack! Hi, Cid!"  
  
"Hi, Amber," Zack greeted back as she ran towards them.  
  
"Excited?" Cid asked Amber.  
  
"Yeah, kind of," Amber answered as she sat next to Zack.  
  
"Well, you'd better be prepared. Like what I've just warned Zack, the monsters in the crater are tough and Sephiroth is a very powerful fellow that you wouldn't want to mess with. Not even for a second. But I guess I didn't need to warn you about him. After all, you faced him once before."  
  
"Yes, I did," was all that Amber could say as she thought to herself, feeling a little worried.  
  
When he noticed her worried face, Zack said, "Don't worry, Amber."  
  
She looked at him as he continued, "We'll all be there with you. We'll all be fighting against Sephiroth together."  
  
She then smiled at Zack, happy to hear that.  
  
Cid shook his head, laughing softly to himself, "Kids these days."  
  
A while later, Cloud came out from the mansion. He looked at Cid.  
  
"Cid, get the Highwind started. We'll be leaving soon."  
  
As he got up, Cid answered, "Roger that."  
  
He then headed for the Highwind. Cloud then looks at Zack and Amber.  
  
"You two ready? We'll be heading for the crater soon."  
  
"I'm ready, Cloud!" Zack answered.  
  
"Me, too," answered Amber.  
  
"Good, I just hope that you two are prepared for whatever that we might encounter in the crater."  
  
"We'll be fine, Cloud. Right, Amber?" Zack said as he looked at Amber.  
  
She nodded in agreement. Cloud just smiled as he entered the mansion again.  
  
*********  
  
Around half an hour later, everyone has gathered at the bridge of the Highwind.  
  
"It looks like everyone's ready, Cloud. Let's go!" Yuffie shouted.  
  
"Cid," Cloud, looking at him.  
  
"Got it!" Cid answered as he operated the controls to bring the Highwind up into the air.  
  
As the Highwind slowly rose, Tifa walked up to Cloud.  
  
"Cloud, what do you think will happen when we get to the crater?"  
  
After thinking for a short moment, he answered with a serious face, "I don't know, Tifa. I don't know." 


	7. Chapter VI

CHAPTER VI: BATTLES IN THE CRATER  
  
After the Highwind landed on a flat area around the side of the crater, everyone got off, one after the other. Zack took a look around the crater when his feet touched the ground. The crater had gotten less deep than it was in the game, because he could see the bottom now. As he scanned the bottom, he was surprised when he saw a small figure standing close to the vortex of light.  
  
"Cloud!"  
  
Hearing that, Cloud rushed over, "What's wrong?"  
  
Zack points to the figure, "Look over there!"  
  
It took Cloud a while before he saw the figure, "Sephiroth!"  
  
"Sephiroth?" Yuffie rushes to where Zack and Cloud stood and scans for the figure. When she sees the figure, she nods her head, "Yup, that's him, all right."  
  
She takes a closer look at the figure, suddenly she gasps, "And he's looking right at us!"  
  
"What!?" Cid shouted before Sephiroth suddenly appeared in front of the group, surprising everyone.  
  
"I see you have all arrive in time," Sephiroth said, sinisterly, to the group.  
  
"Tell us what's going on, Sephiroth," Cloud questioned while looking at him, suspiciously.  
  
Sephiroth smiled that evil grin of his that Cloud could never forget, "Why don't I show you, instead?"  
  
Then, before any of them could react, they were teleported suddenly to where Zack saw Sephiroth standing. Everyone slowly shook off their shock from the teleportation as they turned to face Sephiroth, who had been watching them for a while.  
  
"Are you all ready?"  
  
"What's going on, Sephiroth? You still haven't answer me!" Cloud exclaimed.  
  
"And above all, what the heck is that thing?" Barret shouted, pointing at the vortex.  
  
"Oh, this," Sephiroth, turns to look at the vortex, "This is the Dimensional Vortex."  
  
He turns back to the group, "It is connected to a whole new world that even I never knew of."  
  
"A whole new world?" Tifa, surprised.  
  
"That even you didn't know of?" Cloud continued.  
  
"Yes, that is right," Sephiroth answered calmly.  
  
Barret then shouted, "If you didn't know about this whole new world, then why is that thing there?"  
  
"Oh, if you think this vortex was created by me, you are greatly mistaken."  
  
Everyone was surprised as he continued, "It was created by another."  
  
He then glares Zack, "Remember that someone, Zack, the one I told you about before."  
  
Zack is shocked as Sephiroth smiles his sinister smile again, "He's the one that created it."  
  
"Who is it, Sephiroth? Who is that 'he' you're talking about over and over again?" Cid shouted.  
  
Sephiroth continues smiling, "He's."  
  
He suddenly stops as his face shows a sign of surprise. He recovers back after a short moment.  
  
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"  
  
As Sephiroth continued to stare at them, Barret suddenly sees something coming out from the vortex, "What is THAT!?"  
  
A figure was coming out from the side of the vortex. The figure appeared in full form after a short while. It was a man, whose body was hidden in a dark-blue cape. He had long, bright-blue hair and wide, yellow shoulder pads.  
  
"Greetings," the man, his voice thundering loudly everywhere around Zack and the others.  
  
"Who. What are you!?" Cid gasped.  
  
The man's eyes glared sharply at Cid, as if trying to pierce through him, but Cid stood his ground.  
  
"I am Thora," the man, his voice thundered once more.  
  
"Thora? Hah, what a stupid name!" Barret shouted.  
  
Thora glared furiously at Barret and with a swing of his hand, Barret suddenly flew to the back. Barret shouted in pain as he landed on the rough ground.  
  
"Don't EVER make fun of me," Thora roared, still glaring furiously at Barret, who stared fiercely back at him while slowly getting up.  
  
"Why did you create the vortex, Thora?" Vincent shouted, taking Thora's attention away from Barret.  
  
"I intend to dominate the worlds that exist within the grasps of my hand," Thora answered with his thundering voice.  
  
"Worlds?" Zack gasped, "Do you mean to say that there are other worlds, besides this world and mine!?"  
  
"Yes," Thora answered, as he looked at him, frightening him a little, "But you should already know about them, Zack."  
  
Zack was shocked when he heard that.  
  
"Sephiroth," Thora called as Sephiroth turned around in reply, "Take care of them. I've only come to personally meet with Zack."  
  
Sephiroth smiled, sinisterly, as he faced back towards the group. Thora slowly entered the side of the vortex.  
  
"Wait! What do you mean that I already know about those other worlds, Thora?" Zack shouted.  
  
However his question was ignored by Thora as he disappeared into the vortex.  
  
"Well," Sephiroth, smiling his unmistakable smile.  
  
"Father," he continued as Hojo suddenly appears from a bright ball of blue light.  
  
"Mother," he continued again as Lucrecia suddenly appears, too.  
  
Everyone was surprised when they saw them.  
  
"Lucrecia!" Vincent gasped.  
  
Sephiroth continued on, "What shall we do with them?"  
  
"Oh, you decide, son," Hojo exclaimed, looking as fiendish as he always had.  
  
Lucrecia, on the other hand, kept quiet as she stood still on the spot where she appeared on, staring blankly at everyone.  
  
"Well, Thora told me to take care of them," Sephiroth recalled and then his face turned even more sinister, "So, let's take care of them!"  
  
Suddenly, Sephiroth draws out his sword and charges for Cloud. Fortunately, Cloud was quick enough to hold Sephiroth's attack with his sword. The sound of their sword clash echoed within the crater. Now, they were right at each other's faces.  
  
"You'll pay for what you did to me, Cloud," Sephiroth said as they were glaring at each other's faces.  
  
Cloud quickly raised his sword, forcing Sephiroth back, "All right! I'll pay you back. the same way that I did before!"  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa cried in concern as Cloud and Sephiroth continued with their fight.  
  
"If you want to help him, you're going to have to go through us first," Hojo said menacingly as he stood beside Lucrecia.  
  
"Lucrecia," Vincent murmured, looking at Lucrecia.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry to inform you, Vincent, but Thora had changed her to how she is now, after the discovery of her misdeed," Hojo explained, laughing his unmistakably sinister laugh.  
  
"What?" Vincent, surprised.  
  
"That's right. She isn't the Lucrecia that you once knew," Hojo, laughing sinisterly again.  
  
Vincent stared at Lucrecia, shocked. Looking into her eyes, he could tell that she was, indeed, different. Her eyes were blank as if lifeless or hypnotized. He looked down to the ground, shocked and at the same time, in complete disbelief.  
  
"Well, enough of this! Come out!" Hojo shouted as he threw two, what seems to be, capsules to the ground in front of him.  
  
"Iron Giant! Malboro!" he continued as the two monsters appeared from the smoke released by the capsules.  
  
Everyone was surprised to see the two gigantic monsters in front of them.  
  
"Iron Giant. Malboro." Zack thought in his mind, "They are two of the toughest monsters in the game."  
  
As he took out his spear, Cid stared at Vincent, who was still grieving over Lucrecia.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself and focus on what's more important! Your LIFE!!"  
  
Vincent was surprised by Cid and quickly recovered from his grief as he drew out his gun. As the monsters continued to slowly charge at the group, they had their weapons out and ready.  
  
"Let's do this, everyone!" Yuffie shouted as she charged for Iron Giant.  
  
"Don't leave without me, Yuffie!" Cid, following behind her.  
  
"I'm coming with you!" Cait Sith cried through his megaphone, the HP Shout, as it hopped after them.  
  
"Leave the Malboro to me!" Tifa shouted as she charged for the Malboro.  
  
"Don't forget about us!" RedXIII shouted as he and Cinna ran after Tifa.  
  
Zack turned to Vincent. He was standing still, looking at Lucrecia as she lumbered slowly closer and closer to him, like as if she was a zombie. Zack then turned to Amber  
  
"Amber, go and help Vincent!"  
  
"But what about you?" Amber, concerned, as she looked at Hojo.  
  
"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine! Now, go!"  
  
She stared at him for a moment before she nodded and ran off towards Vincent. Zack then turned to face Hojo.  
  
"You seem to be confident, Zack."  
  
"Let me guess, all of you were told about me by Thora," Zack, holding his sword tightly in his hands.  
  
Hojo laughed, "You don't have to be a 5 year old child to guess that."  
  
The two stared at each other for a while without saying a word.  
  
"Are we going to fight or are we just going to stand here and stare at each other til we get sick?" Hojo exclaimed to Zack.  
  
"Which would you choose?" Zack asked as he held his sword in his fighting position.  
  
"Why ask when you already know the answer?" Hojo quoted as he slowly took out a capsule from inside his coat.  
  
He then threw the capsule right underneath him, releasing a huge cloud of purple smoke that surrounded him in an instant as he stared sinisterly at Zack. After a quick moment, the smoke started to lift. Zack was shocked to see Hojo, revealed in the form of a monster. Hojo now looked exactly like the monster he turned into, in the game, after being defeated twice in a row.  
  
"Let's fight!" Hojo hissed to Zack.  
  
Hojo charged towards Zack. Zack stood still, waiting to attack Hojo when he has gotten close enough but Hojo suddenly stopped a few feet away from Zack, surprising him. Hojo then somersaulted, stinging Zack painfully with his tail. Being inexperience, Zack felt the pain flow through his whole body quickly as he stepped back a few steps.  
  
"It would seem that you are weaker than I've anticipated. This is really disappointing!"  
  
Zack slowly recovers from the pain, "Sorry to have disappointed you then. Let me make it up to you."  
  
He charges and strikes at him with his sword, hard. Hojo flew to the back as he felt the impact but recovered quickly.  
  
"Now, that's better."  
  
"Humph, I can show you even better!" Zack, holding his sword tightly as he smiled in excitement.  
  
"Hey, kid! Have you forgotten about me?" suddenly Zack heard from behind before he heard sounds of a gun gatling.  
  
Hojo was repeatedly being shot by hundreds of bullets. Zack turned around to see Barret, who had his gun-arm, the Missing Score, pointed at Hojo. Barret smiled at Zack and Zack returned the smile, feeling a little glad. He turned back towards Hojo, who was hurt badly.  
  
"You think. that's going to be enough. to kill me," Hojo mutters out.  
  
Zack then suddenly realized.  
  
"Kill!? I've forgotten that I might need to do so after I have a weapon," Zack thought to himself. He tries to think of what to do for a short moment, "Hey, wait! This is Final Fantasy VII. Why do I need to worry? This is just only a game!"  
  
"Well?" Hojo, mocking at Zack while laughing his menacing laugh weakly.  
  
"No. But I think this will!" Zack answered him as he charged and stroke Hojo, hard, right at his chest, sending him flying to the ground. As Hojo's body slowly disappears into nothing, Zack said proudly, "Yup, I was right."  
  
*********  
  
After Zack told her so, Amber ran to help Vincent. As she did, she wished in her mind.  
  
"Please let him be alright."  
  
When she reached Vincent's side, she took aim at Lucrecia. Vincent saw her but couldn't decide whether to stop her or not. He then stares back into Lucrecia's eyes again. It was still as blank as before. But then, he was surprised when he suddenly saw tears welling up in them. Suddenly, Amber took a shot and hit Lucrecia's right shoulder.  
  
"You're too nervous!" Vincent barked at Amber, surprising her, "Stay calm at all time, Amber, and aim."  
  
Amber starts calming herself down by taking in big, soothing breaths. She aims at Lucrecia again, who was still walking slowly at them. Blood has started flowing a little from the bullet wound on Lucrecia's shoulder. As Lucrecia continued walking closer and closer, Amber takes another shot and hits Lucrecia's right chest.  
  
"No!" Amber, disappointed with herself.  
  
"It's all right, Amber," Vincent said, "I'll take care from here."  
  
He then holds up his gun at Lucrecia, "Farewell, Lucrecia."  
  
That was what he said before he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet right at her. Lucrecia flew to her back when the bullet hit her. Vincent and Amber stood still for a while, looking at Lucrecia's dead body.  
  
"That took a lot out of you, didn't it, Vincent?" Amber said softly, looking at him. He stares at Lucrecia's face, "Yes, it did. But look at her face."  
  
Amber then looks at Lucrecia's face and was surprised, "She's-She's smiling!"  
  
As Lucrecia's body started to disappear slowly, Vincent explained to Amber, "She had been in torment since Thora changed her to the way she was just now. But now, she can rest peacefully."  
  
As Lucrecia slowly disappears, Vincent says once more, "Farewell, Lucrecia."  
  
Amber, smiling happily for Vincent, turned to look at Zack. He was standing in front of Hojo's disappearing body. Amber smiled even happier.  
  
"He's alright," she whispered, feeling extremely relieved. 


	8. Chapter VII

CHAPTER VII (A): THE FLOWER GIRL  
  
Tifa, RedXIII and Cinna did not have much trouble defeating Malboro. Yuffie, Cid and Cait Sith had a little trouble defeating the Iron Giant because of its tough armor. Cloud and Sephiroth were still fighting against each other, while Zack, Amber and everybody else regroup.  
  
"Is everyone alright?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Yes, we're all fine, Tifa," Cait Sith answered.  
  
"Then let's go after Sephiroth!" Zack shouted as he charged towards where Cloud and Sephiroth were.  
  
Cloud and Sephiroth are standing a short distance from each other. They were both staring fiercely at each other. Then, Sephiroth charges once again. Cloud was ready for him but then the sound of a gunshot surprised both Cloud and Sephiroth as a bullet flies pass in front of Sephiroth, stopping his charge. They both look up a small hill where Vincent stood with his gun, smoke coming out of it. Sephiroth was surprised again when suddenly a blade swished by him. He jumped back, the blade barely missing him by a few inches. Sephiroth lands on his feet a few distances away from Zack, who was the one that attacked him.  
  
"That was close, Zack," Sephiroth admired to him. He glared at Zack, piercingly, "Too close."  
  
"I guess it wasn't close enough," Zack, preparing himself for another attack.  
  
Sephiroth looks at him, then he smiles and laughs, "You're stronger than I thought you would be, defeating my father. But he was a weakling himself."  
  
Zack was angered by that and charged to strike him again, but Sephiroth jumped to the back again, dodging his attack. As he landed on his feet, everyone grouped around Zack. Now, Sephiroth stood just a few feet away from the whirling vortex. Looking at all of them, Sephiroth smiled slyly.  
  
"Well, I'll be seeing you all in the other world. maybe!"  
  
Everyone was surprised when he said that, but was to slow to stop him as he turned around and jumped into the vortex. Zack ran ahead of the group.  
  
"Come on, let's go!" Zack continued running ahead, everyone else followed him from behind.  
  
Zack stopped in front of the vortex. Amber joined him shortly when suddenly they heard a strange sound. They both turned around to see everyone dazed with shock. Cloud shook off his shock and walked forward but was suddenly pushed back by some force, followed by the sound again.  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted, concerned, as she ran to him.  
  
"There seem to be some kind of force field around the vortex!" exclaimed Cait Sith. It walks over and bangs on the side of the force field, creating the sound again, "I don't think we can get through!"  
  
Cait Sith looks at Zack and Amber as he continued, "You two would have to go into the vortex and to the other world without us."  
  
Zack and Amber were shocked when they heard that.  
  
Looking at each other, Zack then says, "I guess we've got no choice."  
  
He faces towards Cloud and the others, "All right then! Hope that we will see each other again!"  
  
"Good luck."  
  
Everyone was surprised, as none of them had said that. Suddenly, a strange light-green light appeared near them. They were all surprised when a girl with long brown hair appeared from the light. She was wearing a pink dress and a small, thin, red jacket over it.  
  
"Aries!" Zack thought in his mind, as he stared at the once flower girl from Midgar, Aries, in total surprise.  
  
"Hi, guys," Aries greeted everyone, waving timidly.  
  
"Aries! Wh-Why are you here?" Tifa, still surprised to see Aries.  
  
"Oh, it's that vortex," Aries explained, looking at the vortex, "Something was disturbing the Promised Land and so I came to investigate and was surprised to find Sephiroth, together with a strange man in a dark-blue cape and this vortex."  
  
"I continued watching them until you guys came," Aries continued, "And then, here I am."  
  
She then looks at Zack and Amber, "Hi, I'm Aries Gainsborough. I hope I didn't frighten you two."  
  
"No, it was all right with me," Zack answered.  
  
"Me, too. Just surprised," Amber answered, too.  
  
Aries then smiles at them, happily, "That's good. Well, good luck on your journey in the other world."  
  
"Yeah, hope to see you all again. Bye," Zack said as he waved at them and turns to the vortex.  
  
"It was really nice to meet you, Aries and I do hope to see you all again. So long," Amber, also waved before she turned to the vortex.  
  
Zack looks at her, "Let's go."  
  
She nodded, smiling in excitement. They both then jumped into the vortex. After disappearing in the vortex, Cloud and everybody else just stood still for a while.  
  
Feeling a little dumb, Cid asks, "So. What do we do now?"  
  
*********  
  
In, what seems to be, an empty hallway, Zack and Amber suddenly appeared in a flash of light. They landed on the floor, hard. Both of them felt the impact.  
  
"Ow." Zack uttered, feeling the pain at his bottom. He then looks at Amber, "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah. ow. I'm fine," Amber answered, as she rubbed at her right knee.  
  
"Your knee hurts?" Zack asked as he rushed to her.  
  
"No, it's alright," Amber told him as he kneeled down, looking at her knee.  
  
"Do you mind, um, if I take a look?" Zack asked her, his face turning red a little.  
  
Since Amber was wearing long pants, Zack couldn't see how her knee was. Amber blushed in shyness.  
  
"Um, uh, n-n-no," she answered shyly, turning her head away, trying to hide her blushing face.  
  
Zack then slowly rolled up her right pant up til the top of her kneecap, which was just enough for him to see her hurt knee.  
  
"It's burning red. If you leave it like that, it'll leave a bruise," Zack told her.  
  
She was going to say that it was alright when Zack started to massage at the hurting part of her knee.  
  
"Uh," Amber cried, feeling a little pain as Zack was massaging her knee.  
  
"Was it too hard?"  
  
"N-No, it's all right. I'm fine."  
  
"Well, we shouldn't leave your knee like this. Like I said, it'll leave a bruise if we do."  
  
When Amber nodded in agreement, Zack continued massaging her knee. Amber just smiled timidly, her face blushing, as she shyly watched Zack. A few minutes later, Zack rolled Amber's pant back down. Her knee has gotten less redder than it was before.  
  
"Thank you, Zack," Amber said timidly, still blushing.  
  
He then blushes, too. He turns his head away, trying to hide his face.  
  
"Um, uh, y-you're welcome."  
  
Amber then stood up and started looking around. When he realized that, he also stood up.  
  
"Where do you think we are, Zack?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
Zack continued looking around as he started to think to himself again, "This looks a little familiar. If I'm not wrong, this just might be."  
  
He faces to Amber, "Let's go to the end of that hallway, Amber. Maybe we'll get an idea where we are."  
  
"Okay," Amber agreed.  
  
They then ran to the end of the hallway. There, they looked around.  
  
"Yup, I was right," Zack thought.  
  
They were now looking at the center of Balamb Garden.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER VII (B): THE NEW CHARACTERS  
  
Zack and Amber are wandering around to the left wing of the garden, where they could see three wide doorways that led to different rooms. As they were wandering, they hear music coming from one of the rooms. They looked towards the room. "Looks like there are people there," Amber said, "They seem to be celebrating or having a party." "Let's find out," Zack said as he walked towards the room, as Amber followed from behind. When they entered the room, they looked around. The room was huge and had a giant chandelier hanging in the middle of it. Most of the people in the room seemed to be in uniform. Zack could recognize some of them to be SeeD uniforms, but he didn't tell Amber. He didn't want her to be suspicious of him for knowing about this world. Just then, they heard someone, "Aw, great! Batteries down!" They turned to see who was it. It was a tall young man with long brown hair, which was tied with a thin band. He was wearing a brown overcoat. He was holding a video camera in his hand. "Just when they were getting to the best part!" the man continued. "That is bad!" a girl in a yellow dress shouted as she rushed over to the man. The girl had short, shiny, brown hair that curls up at the end. She was wearing a black cowboy hat. "Here're some batteries," she continued, passing some batteries to the man.  
  
"What a bad timing for the batteries to run out," the man said as he put in the new batteries into the camera, "I guess we'll just have to get it next time." "Irvine? Selphie?" Zack thought as he watched them. "Hey, I've never seen you two before. Are you two new students?" Both Zack and Amber were surprised when a young boy suddenly appeared. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. How would I be sure if I've never seen you two before since there are about over hundreds or, maybe even, a few thousand students in this garden? But I'm quite sociable. I like to make new friends. And also, I help the headmaster and the instructors to supervise the students," the boy explained. At this point, Zack noticed that the boy, whose dark-brown hair was nicely combed and seemed to stand at the edge of his forehead on their own, was wearing a SeeD uniform. "Okay, let me start first. I'm Roger Carlo. You may call me Roger." He stretched out his hand to Zack. Zack stared at his hand, at first, before looking at Roger's face. Then, he grabbed it. "Hi, I'm Zack Nurvana. And you may call me Zack." "I'm Amber Rouge. It's nice to meet you, Roger." "Oh no, the pleasures all mine. I enjoy making new friends," Roger explained. "Well, so do I," Zack answered him. "That's good then!" Roger exclaimed. "So, tell us, what's going on? What are you all celebrating?" Amber asked. "Oh, we're celebrating the defeat of Sorceress Ultimecia!" Talking in his mind again, Zack realized, "I thought that scene with Irvine and Selphie was kind of suspicious." "Would you believe that she was from the future?" Roger asked the two. Amber was surprised, "Really?" "She tried to dominate the world by trying to make time compressed, which meant the past, present and future all squeeze into one time, where only she would have been able to survive." "Wow, that's amazing," Amber admired. "Yeah, but she was defeated by four of the garden's SeeD mercenaries. They were Squall Leonhart, who was the leader of the group, Quistis Trepe, a former instructor of the garden turned SeeD, Zell Dincht, the liveliest SeeD in the group, Selphie Tilmitt, the most energetic SeeD in the group. There were two other people from outside the garden who helped to defeat the sorceress. The two were Rinoa Heartilly, a rebel group leader from Timber and Irvine Kinneas, the sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Am I good or what?" Roger, feeling proud of himself. "Wow, do you think I'll be able to meet them?" Amber asked. "Why, of course! This celebration is mainly dedicated to them for defeating Sorceress Ultimecia! Hey, maybe I can help you to meet them now." "Oh, that would be great," Amber, feeling excited. She looks at Zack, "What do you think, Zack?" "Yeah, that would be really great." "Okay then, follow me," Roger, waving his hand, suggesting them to follow him. The two followed Roger into the crowd.  
  
*********  
  
A few minutes later, Roger calls out, "Yo, Irvine!" The man earlier, the one with the camera, turned around to see Roger, filming along the way everything that he sees. "Oh, hey there, Roger," he greeted, waving with his free hand. "Irvine, I would like you to meet Zack and Amber," Roger, introducing Irvine to Zack and Sophia. "Oh, hi there, you two," he greeted the two, filming them into the camera. Irvine was now wearing his black cowboy hat, Zack noticed. "It's nice to meet you, Irvine," Amber greeted. "Hey, any friend of Roger is a friend of mine!" "It's great to meet you, too," Zack then said. "Where's everyone else, Irvine?" Roger asked. "Oh, Squall and Rinoa are out at the balcony. Quistis is talking with some friends of hers. Selphie went off with her friends, too. And Zell's enjoying the special all-HE-can-eat hotdog buffet," Irvine, laughing at his joke about Zell. Roger joined him, as well. "Yup, that would definitely be Zell," Roger said. He looked at Zack and Amber, "You see, Zell really likes the hotdog served in the garden, but he always seems to have the same problem whenever he goes to the canteen to buy them. Try to guess what's the problem." "What was it?" Amber asked, curious. "Let me guess," Zack then said, "Hotdogs are sold out." Irvine and Roger laughed. "Right on, Zack!" Irvine exclaimed. Zack and Amber join them in their laugh. "Well, see you later, Irvine. I'm bringing these two to meet the others," Roger, starting to walk away. "See you again," Amber, following Roger from behind. "See you around!" Irvine said as they walked away. Irvine turned around and spotted a small group of young girls. When the girls looked over towards him, he waved at them. The girls giggled as he waved at them. Irvine then realized that he had filmed the girls and his waving hand on the camera. "Oh, oh. This won't be good, especially when Selphie finds out about this."  
  
*********  
  
Zack and Amber continue to follow Roger until they met up with Selphie, together with her friends. "Hey, Selphie!" Roger greeted. "Hi, Roger!" she greeted back before she saw Zack and Amber, "And who, may I know, are those two?" "Selphie meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, meet Selphie." "Oh, so you've made more friends," Selphie said, "It's nice to meet you two." "It's nice to meet you, too, Selphie," Amber said. "Well, hope you enjoy this party. I'm sorry to just meet and leave but I've got some things to do with my friends. See ya!" she said before leaving the three with her friends. "It's all right. Bye," Amber told her. "See ya, Selphie!" Roger, waving at her as she left. He then faces Zack and Amber, "Well, let's go on to meet with the others." The three started to move again. However, they did not go far before they bumped into a woman with neatly tied, golden-brown hair. "Oh, Quistis, how've you been?" Roger greeted. "Just fine, Roger. But may I know who are the two friends that are behind you?" she said, looking at Zack and Amber. "Oh, this is Zack and Amber. Guys, this is Quistis." "It's nice to meet you, Quistis," Amber repeated the same line again. Quistis smiled and answered, "It's nice to meet you both." "So, where's Zell?" Roger asked. "He's still stuffing himself with hotdogs over near the buffet table," Quistis, laughing a little. Roger laughed also, "That's just like him, unable to settle his hunger for hotdogs." "Well, if it weren't for me and Selphie, his hunger for hotdogs may have ended soon enough," Quistis said, laughing again, louder this time. "Yeah, that's right," Roger, laughing, as well. He then turned to Zack and Amber as he explained, "Well, earlier tonight, as Zell was quickly chowing down on his hotdogs, he choked himself. He grabbed his cup of soda but it was empty. Luckily for him, Selphie and Quistis were there to help him, but the unfortunate part of it all was that Irvine was also there, filming every second of it. That embarrassed him, making him angry at the same time. He scared off Selphie and Quistis and threw a hotdog right at the camera that Irvine was holding. Luckily, it did not damage the camera." Roger laughed again when he was done. Quistis nodded as she continued, "I have to admit. He scared me and Selphie real good." "Well, be seeing you around, Quistis. We're off to meet Zell now," Roger said as he, Zack and Amber slowly walked for the buffet table. "See you around," Quistis answered.  
  
*********  
  
Zack and Amber followed Roger to the buffet table. From there, they could see Zell eating some more hotdogs at one of the nearby tables, but he had company, two of them. One of them was a teenage girl with long, black hair, which had some brown stripes, wearing a black dress with a blue over- wear, and the other was a young man with dark brown hair, wearing a black jacket over a white shirt. The man also had a scar across his face. They were sitting beside each other, watching Zell as he continued with his feast. "Squall, Rinoa," Zack thought. "Hey there, guys," Roger greeted the three. "Hi, Roger," Rinoa greeted, while Squall just waved. Zell, on the other hand, was too busy eating his hotdogs that he didn't bother to greet Roger. "I would like you all to meet Zack and Amber. Zack, Amber, this is Squall and Rinoa," Roger, introducing Zack and Amber to the couple and vice versa. "It's nice to meet you two," Amber greeted. "Same for us, too," Rinoa answered, smiling happily. Roger then turns to Zell, "And this fellow here. Well, you should already guess by now. He's Zell." Zell greeted the two, with his mouth full, "Um. Hi. Um." Everyone laughed at that, even Squall, although not that much. "Well, now, you've met all the heroes and heroines that defeated Sorceress Ultimecia," Roger announced, "But there is one thing that you should know about the two main hero and heroine." He points his thumb at Squall and Rinoa. "Everyone knows what they share with each other." Rinoa then stares at Squall as he stares back. "And that is love!" Roger continued as Rinoa leaned over to Squall and kissed him right on the lips. "How sweet!" Amber exclaimed. She then secretly whispered to Zack, "They kind of remind me of Cloud and Tifa." He whispered back, "Yeah, me too." "Oh, great! Miss it again!" suddenly the guys heard a man shouted. Just then, Irvine appeared out from the crowd with the camera in his hand. Everyone, including Irvine, laughs when they realized that Irvine missed filming Squall and Rinoa kissing. "Why don't you just ask them to kiss in front of the camera?" Amber asked Irvine. "Well, even if they agreed, it wouldn't be as heartfelt as they kiss on their own," Irvine explained. Everyone laughed at that, except Squall and Rinoa who just stared at each other, lovingly. 


	9. Chapter VIII

CHAPTER VIII (A): THE NIGHT ENDS  
  
A few hours passed. Zack and Amber were talking with Roger, Squall and his party, including Selphie and Quistis, who joined them not long ago. While they were talking, Angelo, Rinoa's dog, laid quietly next to her seat on the floor. As time continued to pass, the whole room was filled with less and less people. Most of the young SeeD candidates had returned to the dormitory. Just then, Irvine starts to yawn and stretches his arms. He had switched off the camera and put it on the table quite some time ago.  
  
"It's getting late. And I'm getting tired after all this fun," he said.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Selphie agreed, yawning as well.  
  
"I guess we all are. Let's all return to the dorm and call it the night," Squall spoke out, getting up.  
  
At this point, Zack and Amber realized a problem. They had no place to rest for the night.  
  
"Um, excuse me, Squall" Zack uttered, "Um, Amber and I have no place to rest. We're not from the garden, you see."  
  
"Is that so?" Quistis asked, surprised a little.  
  
"Yeah, we are, uh." Amber, thinking for a moment, ".visitors."  
  
After thinking to herself for a while, Quistis told the two, "Well, we'll need to discuss with Headmaster Cid about this."  
  
"Let's go, then," Zack said, getting up, "After all, is there anything wrong with spending a night here?"  
  
*********  
  
Zack, Amber and everyone else were now in the elevator, heading to the headmaster's office. They couldn't find Headmaster Cid within the quad area, where the celebration was held, so they thought that he might be in his office. Seconds passed since they entered the elevator before the elevator reached the third floor, which was where Headmaster Cid's office was. They walked into the office. In the office, Zack and Amber could see a large pillar in the middle of the room. Looking around the office, they didn't see the headmaster.  
  
"Where's the headmaster?" Amber asked.  
  
"Hm," Irvine, looking up the pillar, "Maybe he's up there."  
  
"One way to find out," Quistis said as she walked over to the pillar. She pushed a button on the pillar, which made a buzzing sound.  
  
"Hey, that sounded just like a bee buzzing around," Zell exclaimed.  
  
Quistis frowned, "They should really change this."  
  
Rinoa giggled when she heard that.  
  
Zack turned to Roger, "Why'd Quistis pushed that button?"  
  
Overhearing Zack, Amber faces towards Roger as well because she was wondering that, too.  
  
"That button works like. um. Let's just say that button works like a doorbell. Whoever presses that button will make that buzzing sound we all heard earlier. The sound is also heard up there. So, if anyone is up there, they will answer to whomever that pushed the button through a voice transmitter that we just hooked up together with that buzzer not long ago."  
  
"I see," was all Zack said.  
  
Just then, they all hear a voice coming through the transmitter, "Who is it?"  
  
Quistis then answered, "We apologize for disturbing you at this hour, Headmaster Cid. But we have two outside visitors who have no place to rest for the night."  
  
Thinking for a moment, the headmaster then answered through the transmitter, "All right, Quistis. I'll be right down."  
  
Quistis rejoined the group as they waited for the headmaster.  
  
While they were waiting, Amber asked Roger, "Why would the headmaster be on the pillar, Roger?"  
  
"That's not a pillar, Amber. That's a tower. The garden's mobile operating system is at the top. The headmaster might have been checking the system." Roger explained.  
  
"Oh," was all she said before she whispered to Zack, "I didn't know the garden was moving. I didn't have any problems moving around this whole time or even felt anything."  
  
"Yeah, the garden might have been moving quite slowly," Zack whispered back.  
  
Zack had already known why they never felt the garden's movement. The garden was floating, instead of moving on the ground. He didn't tell her that because she would have been suspicious about him knowing all this when they had never been in this world. Just then, they all hear the sound of moving gears as the platform elevator, which was connected to the side of the tower, slowly came down to the floor, carrying a man and a woman. The man had neatly combed, brown hair and was wearing thick-framed glasses while the woman had long, straight, black hair and was wearing a black gown.  
  
"Headmaster Cid, Black Matron or Edea," Zack thought as they got off the elevator.  
  
"So, who are the two visitors you were talking about, Quistis?" Cid asked Quistis.  
  
"Here they are, sir," Quistis, showing to him Zack and Amber, "Zack Nurvana and Amber Rouge."  
  
Cid and Edea stared at them. Edea then walked forward a little towards them.  
  
"Nice to meet you. I am Edea Kramer, Headmaster Cid's wife. You may call me Edea."  
  
"Edea Kramer?" Zack thought in surprise, "Oh, yeah, she is Headmaster Cid's wife."  
  
"It's nice to meet you, too, Edea," Amber greeted, smiling to her as Edea smiled back.  
  
"So, you have no place to stay for the night, eh?" Cid said.  
  
He turned around and walked towards his desk, "Let me check if there are any vacant rooms in the dormitory. There should be some available."  
  
He walked a few steps before he stopped and turned around towards the two, "Would the two of you like to share the same room? Or would you prefer separate rooms?"  
  
Zack and Amber were surprised by the question and they both tried to hide their blushing faces.  
  
Still blushing, Amber answered, "Um, separate rooms, please. If it's not too much trouble."  
  
"Oh, not at all," Cid replied as he walked over to his desk, "Now, let me see. Which room was it?"  
  
Cid looked through the neatly stacked files on his desk. He slipped out a file from in between the small stack of files. He sat on his chair and slowly flipped through the file. Edea walked over to the side of his chair and looked at the file over his shoulder. It took him a while before he found what he was looking for.  
  
"Ah, there it is. Room 13 and 14 in Section C," he said before shutting the file and putting it on his desk.  
  
"Thank you for your time, sir," Zack said.  
  
"It's no problem," Cid answered, smiling his friendly smile.  
  
After Roger, Squall and the others greeted the headmaster a good night, Zack, Amber and the rest left the office, leaving Cid and Edea, and got into the elevator. Irvine pushed the button, labeled 'F1' as the elevator door then slowly closed. The elevator then zoomed down to the ground floor.  
  
*********  
  
Zack is now looking at his room, Room 13 in Section C. There was a tidy little bed at the right side of the room. A desk, which had a table lamp, a large pad, some stationeries and a clock on it, stood beside the bed, leaning against the wall where a window was.  
  
"Not a bad room."  
  
Zack then walked over to the bed and threw himself onto it. He bounced a little as he landed on the bed.  
  
"Ah, feels good to be laying down again!" Zack said to himself as he looked down at his legs, "Especially for my legs. They were getting fed up of not being able to rest without laying down."  
  
He drops his head to the bed again, closing his eyes as he rests for the moment. Just then, he hears some knocking on the wall at the other side of the room.  
  
"Zack, can you hear me?"  
  
Zack then got up and walked over to the wall, where the knocking was. It was Amber. Her room, Room 14, was just next to his room. Standing against the wall, Zack answered her.  
  
"Yeah, Amber. I can hear you."  
  
"Not a bad room, isn't it, Zack?" Amber, leaning herself against the wall.  
  
"Yeah, it's quite nice actually," Zack answered, looking once more at the room.  
  
"They were nice, weren't they? Roger, Squall, Rinoa and everyone else," Amber, looking down at the floor.  
  
"Yeah, Amber, they were very nice."  
  
There was a short silence before Amber said, "I feel a little guilty, Zack, for lying to them about us."  
  
Zack was surprised to hear that, "It's all right, Amber. You didn't lie to them."  
  
Turning her head a little, Amber looked at the wall behind her.  
  
"We are visitors. After all, we are." Zack, laughing a little, as he continued, ". from another world."  
  
Amber looked back to the floor, thinking for a moment, before she smiled, "Yeah, that's true."  
  
"See, you never lied to them. So don't feel guilty, Amber."  
  
Amber smiles softly, "Thank you, Zack. You always help me to feel better. Thank you."  
  
"It-It's nothing, Amber. After all, that's what friends are for, right?"  
  
A short moment passed.  
  
"Thanks, Zack."  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER VIII (B): THE FIRST MORNING  
  
Morning has arrived and Zack was still sleeping on his bed when suddenly a loud knocking on his room's door startled him.  
  
"Yo, Zack, you up yet? Better hurry to the canteen if you want some breakfast!"  
  
Zack could tell that it was Zell. Just then, he hears the sound of fast footsteps outside his room. Loudly at first, but it slowly faded away. When it faded completely, Zack pulled himself up off the bed. In a sitting position, he stretched his arms and yawned. He wiped his face with his hands, trying to wipe the sleep of him. After that, he got up, off the bed. He looked at the desk. He had put his sword, in its sheath, on the desk last night. He hooked the sheath back onto his back, where he had always did since Amber lent it to him. After hooking his sheath back on, he left the room. Outside his room, he looked at the door of Amber's room.  
  
"I wonder if Zell have woken her up, too."  
  
He walks over to her door and knocks on it. He waited for a while but there was no answer.  
  
"Hm. Maybe he did. She might even be in the canteen now," Zack thought as he walks for the canteen.  
  
*********  
  
In the canteen, Zack looked around. It was kind of crowded with SeeD's and SeeD candidates. There was a long queue at the counter of the canteen.  
  
"Looks like I came a little slow," he thought as he went to stand in line.  
  
As he was walking towards the line, he spotted Amber at one of the tables, waving at him. He waved back. Then Amber suggested with her hand for him to come over to the table. Curious, he walked over. Reaching the table that Amber was sitting in, he sees that she had already taken a tray, which had a plate of omelet and a cup of milk next to it. Next to her tray was another tray. This one had a plate of a small apple pie and a cup of milk, instead.  
  
"Sit down, Zack. I've already helped you to get your breakfast, but I hope that you like what I've picked," Amber, holding out the tray with the apple pie to him.  
  
"Thanks, Amber," Zack said as he sat down, "It's just fine."  
  
He took a fork and cut a piece of the apple pie. He put it into his mouth while Amber watched him. He took a few bites.  
  
"This taste great, Amber! Thanks for getting it for me."  
  
She smiled happily, feeling glad, "You're welcome, Zack."  
  
He takes another bite of the pie. As the two were eating their breakfast, Quistis appeared at their table, still in her usual dress.  
  
"How do you like the food?"  
  
"It tastes great, Quistis," Zack answered.  
  
Amber nodded while chewing a piece of her omelet.  
  
Quistis smiled, "Well, that's good to hear."  
  
"So, is there anything going on later?" Zack asks as he takes another piece of the pie.  
  
Quistis thought for a while before she answered, "Nothing that would involve people from outside the garden. So I guess you should just go home then."  
  
Zack and Amber were surprised when they heard her.  
  
"Oh, I-I see. Yeah, maybe we should," Zack continued.  
  
He and Amber continued eating their breakfast for a while. Suddenly, the three hear a voice talking through the PA system.  
  
"Will Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Quistis Trepe and Irvine Kinneas please see Headmaster Cid at the directory area now? I repeat, will Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Quistis Trepe and Irvine Kinneas please see Headmaster Cid at the directory area now? A problem has just come up this morning that he needs to discuss about."  
  
Quistis looks towards where the voice came from, "I wonder what is it?"  
  
She looks at Zack and Amber, "Well, I've gotta go. See you two later."  
  
After she had dashed off, Zack and Amber looked at each other.  
  
"So, what are we going to do now?" Zack asked.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we can meet up with them later."  
  
"Yeah, maybe," he replied as he continued eating his pie. They continued eating their breakfast for a while before Zack asked, "Did you have a good night sleep?"  
  
"Yeah, the bed was comfortable and it was quite tiring yesterday. So I was able to sleep easily. What about you?"  
  
"Yeah, same goes for me."  
  
The two then continued with their breakfast.  
  
*********  
  
A few minutes has passed since Zack and Amber finished their breakfast. Now, they are walking towards the directory area, which was in front of the main garden elevator. Before reaching there, they could already see Squall and the others, who were talking with Headmaster Cid and Angelo sitting still near the group, quietly watching them.  
  
"Well, that's was all that was said in the message," they could hear Cid saying to Squall.  
  
Reaching the directory area, they heard Quistis questioned, "So, they say that a man in a black cape is causing trouble in the city?"  
  
Zack and Amber were surprised when they hear that.  
  
Rinoa then continued, "Together with a sorceress with black wings on her back?"  
  
Zack thought when he heard that, "Sorceress with black wings on her back? Sounds like Sorceress Ultimecia. Could it be?"  
  
"Yes, that is correct. So, they are asking help from our garden to send some of our SeeD mercenaries. Since the sorceress's description matched Sorceress Ultimecia, I thought that you all should be the ones to investigate it," Cid explained to them.  
  
Squall thought to himself before he said, "That just couldn't be. We've defeated her and she had died after passing her powers to Matron. How could that be her?"  
  
"And also, Dr. Odine told us that Ultimecia was from a distant future, a very far one!" Selphie exclaimed.  
  
"Do you think it might be an Ultimecia look-alike?" Zell asked.  
  
"Who knows? It just might be," Rinoa answered.  
  
"Let's go and investigate, Squall," Irvine, looking at Squall.  
  
"Yeah, I think it was a wise decision for you to appoint us to go, sir," Squall told the Headmaster.  
  
"Excellent," Cid exclaimed, "But I wish that you would bring along a few capable SeeD's with you."  
  
"Why?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"For experience. After all, I can't just have you six as the best in the garden," Cid explained.  
  
Squall thought for a while before Quistis said, "I think we should, Squall. We should pass our experience to others so as they would be better prepared for any other situations that might be as dangerous as this one."  
  
Squall thought to himself again before he answered, "All right, sir. But we'll only take three at most."  
  
"That is good enough. I only know of three SeeD's that are most capable for this. Excuse me while I go and call upon the three."  
  
The headmaster then walked for the elevator. Once inside, the elevator door closed and the elevator went up. Zack and Amber then ran towards the group.  
  
"Squall, take us with you!" Zack shouted, surprising Squall and the others.  
  
"What?" Squall uttered as Zack and Amber stopped in front of him.  
  
"Take us with you, Squall!" Amber repeated.  
  
"Why?" Rinoa asked, still surprised.  
  
"The man in the black cape. We know him, if it is him," Zack explained.  
  
"You do?" Quistis, a little surprised.  
  
"Yes, the man that you were all talking about should be Sephiroth," Amber explained.  
  
"Sephiroth?" Zell muttered, "Never heard of him."  
  
"Well, of course! But we have!" Zack exclaimed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Zack, but we cannot take anyone else with us," Squall told the two.  
  
"Why?" Amber asked.  
  
"It's too dangerous. A sorceress is with this man, which you say could be Sephiroth. And this sorceress might be someone that we know of who is extremely evil," Rinoa explained.  
  
"It's all right. Sephiroth is an evil person himself. We can take care of ourselves," Zack answered.  
  
"I'm sorry, Zack, but we won't take you two with us. It is just too dangerous," Squall said.  
  
"But." Zack muttered before the PA system interrupted him.  
  
"This is the headmaster speaking. Will Roger Carlo, Jacky Cage and Cindy Levion please come to the directory area? I repeat, will Roger Carlo, Jacky Cage and Cindy Levion please come to the directory area? That is all."  
  
"Humph, I'd never thought that Roger would be one of those SeeD's that Cid was talking about," Irvine, smiling happily.  
  
Staring at each other, Squall said calmly to Zack, "I'm sorry, Zack, but we won't take you two with us. We don't want to endanger any other lives, not even the ones that Headmaster Cid has just mentioned."  
  
Zack was shocked when he heard that. He couldn't find anything to say and just glared down to the floor, feeling a little upset. Suddenly, Angelo started barking at a boy, who just arrived to where they were all standing.  
  
"Whoa, Angelo, no need for loud greetings," the boy exclaimed, "Hey, were you all called to come here, too?"  
  
Everyone turned to look at the boy. When Zack did so, he realized that it was Roger. His hairstyle was still same as the other night. This time, he was wearing a brown, sleeveless T-shirt, which was unbuttoned at the top and dark-brown pants that went only til under his kneecaps, together with a pair of black snickers. Just then, another boy came walking towards them, and then a girl. The boy was kind of handsome with his hair standing straight on his head. He was wearing a red T-shirt under a dark-purple sleeveless jacket and long black trousers, tucked into his black snickers. The girl had long black hair, which was tied with a red ribbon and was wearing a small blue leather jacket over a green blouse and long ocean-blue pants that reached until her red sandals.  
  
"Why were we all called?" Roger continued  
  
Just then, the elevator door opened as Headmaster Cid appeared through it. As he did, he saw the three young SeeD's.  
  
"Ah, I see that you three have arrived. Excellent!" The headmaster then walked down the short, wide stairway to where everyone was standing. Reaching the end of the steps, he suggests to Roger, the boy and the girl to stand beside him, "Squall, these are the three that I want you to bring to Deling City."  
  
He then looked at the three, "Please introduce yourselves to Squall and the others."  
  
Roger was the first in line. So he started first.  
  
"Hi, I'm Roger Carlo, but you all know me. So, never mind."  
  
Then it was the boy, "I'm Jacky Cage. Please to meet you all."  
  
Lastly was the girl, "Hi, I'm Cindy Levion. Nice to meet you all."  
  
Squall nodded his head, "It's nice to meet you three, too. I'm Squall Leonhart. I will be bringing you three to Deling City. The reason, a message from the mayor of that city was just sent here this morning. The message said that a man in a black cape and a sorceress were causing trouble in the city. The sorceress is said to be very powerful and dangerous. You were all chosen by the headmaster to come with us so that you would be able to achieve more experience and be better prepared for any other such dangers or situations in the near future. Is that clear?"  
  
The three answered solemnly, "Yes!"  
  
Squall nodded his head once more.  
  
Headmaster Cid then exclaimed, "Excellent! We will be arriving at Deling City in a short while. So, you have a short period of time to prepare yourselves."  
  
He turns to walk towards to the elevator. Taking a few steps, he stops.  
  
"You should also get to know more about your teammates. Good luck."  
  
He then continued walking towards the elevator.  
  
As the elevator went up with the headmaster in it, Irvine exclaimed to Roger, "Hey, I can't believe that you would be chosen by the headman."  
  
"Yeah, me too," Selphie admitted.  
  
"Humph, you guys don't know me as well as you think," Roger answered, acting like a big shot.  
  
Everyone laughed at that, except Zack and Amber who were watching them from where they stood.  
  
"Well, you three had better prepare yourselves. You're going to need it later," Rinoa advised.  
  
After watching them for the whole time, Zack and Amber stare at each other.  
  
"What are we going to do now, Zack?" Amber asked, a little worried.  
  
Zack turned to look at Squall and the others, "I. I don't know." 


	10. Chapter IX

CHAPTER IX (A): PASSION ON THE FIELD  
  
At the deck, in the second floor of the garden, Squall and the others are getting ready to get off to the ground. Headmaster Cid, Matron and the female SeeD, Xu, were there to see them off. Zack and Amber were there, too. Irvine has just dropped a rope ladder from the side of the deck.  
  
"I guess it's time for us to say 'buh-bye'," Irvine joked, looking towards the headmaster.  
  
"I wish you all good luck in your journey. And I pray that you would return," Cid said.  
  
"Don't even get started with your praying," Zell said, looking at the headmaster, "Cause we'll be coming back. And you can bet your money on that."  
  
Cid laughed when he heard him, "Yes, I guess I was just being a little pessimistic."  
  
"We shall be leaving now, sir," Squall said to the headmaster while saluting the SeeD's salute.  
  
After the headmaster nodded his head, Squall and the others went for the rope ladder. Zell was the first to climb down the ladder, although he had a hard time trying to carry Angelo along with him as he did. Then, it was Selphie, followed by Irvine.  
  
As Quistis climbed down the ladder, Xu suddenly shouted to Squall, "Oh, wait a minute!"  
  
As Squall turned to look at Xu, she was running towards him. Standing in front of him, she held out to him something that looked like a mobile phone.  
  
"Take this with you."  
  
Squall took it in his hand as Rinoa walked to his side, a little curious.  
  
Looking at the thing, Rinoa asked, "What is this?"  
  
"That's the garden's new Field Mission Communicator or FMC. It is something that we've just came up to make communication easier between the garden and SeeD's on the field," Xu explained, "So now, SeeD's on the field can report their mission status at anytime. They may also ask for the garden to come and pick them up."  
  
"I see," Squall muttered. As he put the FMC into his pocket, he looked at Xu, "Thanks."  
  
"Just making things better for the garden," Xu said while saluting the SeeD's salute.  
  
Squall saluted back. Then, Squall and Rinoa turned for the ladder. After they had climbed down the ladder, Xu pulled up the ladder as Headmaster Cid and Matron went back inside. After pulling up the ladder, Xu left it beside the door, which led to the second floor corridor, and followed the two. While all of this were happening, Zack and Amber had been watching quietly at them. After Xu had disappeared through the door, Zack dashed for the ladder.  
  
Curious, Amber asked him, "What are you doing?"  
  
Zack answered her while carefully carrying the rope ladder, "We're going to Deling City."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We've got to hurry, they're going to start the garden's mobile system soon," he said while struggling to carry the ladder to the side of the deck.  
  
Throwing the ladder off the side of the deck, he looks at Amber, "Come on, let's go!"  
  
Upon hearing that, Amber ran for the ladder and started to climb down. After she reached halfway down the ladder, Zack followed her down the ladder. As the garden started to float off the ground, Zack dropped to the ground. He got back up quickly and rushed over to Amber who was standing a short distance away from him. She was looking at the garden, amazed.  
  
"The garden's floating!"  
  
Standing beside her, Zack looked back at the garden. It was slowly floating away. The ladder that they've just climbed down from was dangling helplessly at the side of the deck.  
  
Amber then continued, "Wow, I never knew that it was floating all this time."  
  
Zack continued to watch the garden as it slowly floated away. Although he heard her, he did not want to say anything. He didn't want to lie to her anymore than he already did.  
  
Looking at her, Zack exclaimed, "Let's go. They shouldn't be far from us."  
  
After she nodded, they quickly rushed after Squall and the others.  
  
*********  
  
A few minutes has passed. Zack and Amber were still running after Squall and the others. After running for a short while, Zack was starting to feel fatigued as he started to slow down. When she realized that, Amber stopped and looked at Zack. She noticed that he was feeling tired and ran back to him.  
  
"Are you tired, Zack?"  
  
Hearing that, Zack answered quickly while shaking his head, "No, no, I'm fine."  
  
Still running, he continued, "We've gotta hurry before they leave us even further behind."  
  
Running beside him, she said, "It's all right, Zack. We can walk from here. At least, that way, you can get some of your energy back."  
  
Looking at her, Zack did not know what to say and did what she said and started walking, "Thanks, Amber."  
  
Amber smiled happily, "You're welcome, Zack."  
  
After walking for a while, Zack told Amber, "Well, I'm feeling better. Let's get going!"  
  
They were just about to run when suddenly something swooped over their heads. Surprised by that, Zack and Amber looked for the thing. They saw it hovering in the air, shrieking sharply.  
  
"What's that?" Amber shouted, feeling afraid.  
  
It was a blue flying monster with two pairs of wings, instead of the usual one and its head looked like a crash helmet. Zack recognized it to be one of the monsters found around Deling City in the game, but could not recall what was its name, except that it started with a 'T'. After staring at it for a while, Zack suddenly notices another creature appearing near the monster. This one was dark purple and had no legs, except for its two pincers. Zack remembered it to be another monster found around Deling City in the game.  
  
"Geezard!"  
  
The monster named Geezard squirmed around under the flying monster.  
  
"What should we do, Zack?" Amber, starting to feel scared.  
  
Zack thought for a moment. He remembered the Geezard to be a weak monster that had a short life while the other one was a little stronger and had more life.  
  
"You take care of the small one!" Zack ordered. Drawing out his sword, he continued, "I'll take care of the flying one."  
  
"What? But how are you going to attack it?" Amber asked.  
  
"Don't worry, Amber. I'll be all right. Now, go!" Zack shouted before he ran for the flying monster, leaving Amber behind to watch him in concern.  
  
Looking at the flying monster, Zack thought to himself, "I may have forgotten your name, but at least I know how weak you are."  
  
He then jumps to attack the monster. However, as he did, he realized that his jump was not going to be high enough for him to attack the monster directly. So, out of desperation, Zack quickly raised his sword as high as he could and pulled it back down when he was close to the monster. It was a hit! The monster shrieked in pain as it flew clumsily in the air but it wasn't long before it recovered from the attack.  
  
Although it was starting to bleed terribly, it was still able to swoop down towards Zack and bit him hard on his right shoulder before he could prepare himself for another attack. Zack cried in pain as he fell to the ground, sending his sword flying from his hand and onto the ground a few feet away from him. He was still not used to experiencing such pain.  
  
Looking up at the monster, Zack muttered softly, "Damn."  
  
The monster shrieked in triumph and swooped down to attack him once more. Suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot and a bullet went right through the monster's cranium. The monster shrieked loudly before it crashed to the ground and disappeared into dust. Surprised, Zack looked towards where the bullet had come from and saw Amber, pointing her gun towards where the monster was before crashing to the ground. Smoke was coming out from the tip of her gun. She smiled happily when she realized that she had just killed the monster. Zack smiled back.  
  
"That's great! Your aiming's gotten better!"  
  
She continued to smile happily. However, she was not happy that her aiming had gotten better. Instead, she was happy that she was able to save Zack before the monster did anymore harm on him, but her happiness was short- lived when suddenly something bounced hard off her back, forcefully pushing her to the ground. She had not defeated the Geezard yet and it had taken the opportunity for a back attack. As she landed on the ground, she lost grip of her gun and it flew a few feet away from her.  
  
"Amber!"  
  
She pulled herself back up slowly. She was still shaken up by the attack. However, the Geezard bounced off her back once again, pushing her back to the ground mercilessly. She shouted in pain when it did.  
  
"Amber!" Zack shouted once more, feeling uncontrollably worried and also, at the same time, angry.  
  
Despite the pain in his right shoulder, he got up quickly to his feet and ran towards where Amber was. As he ran, he picked up his sword. As he got closer to where Amber was, he quickly got ready to attack the Geezard. As he got even closer, the Geezard raised its body to attack Zack. However as it did, Zack gave out a loud warcry and slashed the monster. It flew far to the back. When it landed on the ground, it wiggled its terribly injured body before disappearing into dust. Zack then squatted beside Amber, who was still laying on the ground, while laying down his sword beside her.  
  
"Are you alright, Amber?"  
  
He pulls her up into a sitting position. When he did, he felt the pain in his shoulder again.  
  
Noticing that, Amber said weakly, "Oh, Zack. You're bleeding."  
  
Hearing that, Zack stared at her. Seeing that she was alright, he smiled, feeling relieved.  
  
"You're alright!"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, but you're already bleeding," Amber said, looking at his bleeding shoulder.  
  
When the flying monster earlier bit Zack, it had torn off a part of his shirt, exposing the wound left by it on his right shoulder.  
  
"I'll be alright. It isn't bleeding that badly anyway. The only thing that I'm worried about is you."  
  
Amber smiled, "Well, I'm alright. Just shaken."  
  
She then got up slowly. She reached into her pocket and took out a folded piece of tissue. She then gently placed the tissue on Zack's wound.  
  
"This should help with the bleeding," she said as she gently placed the tissue on his bleeding wound.  
  
"Uh." Zack, feeling a little pain when she did.  
  
She was surprised, "Did I hurt you?"  
  
"No," Zack answered. He smiles at her, "It's okay."  
  
A little relieved, she smiled and continued to gently wipe his wound. As she was doing so, Zack tried to hold back his pain. Amber noticed that and stopped. She leaned back a little with her face looking down to the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry if it hurt."  
  
Although her hair was covering her face, Zack could tell that she was feeling sadden.  
  
"No, it's all right."  
  
When he said that, she looked up at him. At that point, then Zack noticed, in her eyes, tears were welling up a little.  
  
"It's okay, really," Zack, assuring her, "It was my fault that I got hurt. So, it's all right."  
  
Amber smiled a little and faced back down. Just then, Zack noticed tears had started rolling down her face. He then leaned closer to her, a little alarmed.  
  
"Don't cry, Amber. Really, it's all right."  
  
"I'm not crying because of that, Zack!" Amber, surprising Zack.  
  
She looks up at him. Tears were still rolling down her face. Looking at her face, Zack raises his right hand to her face. He wanted to wipe the tears off her face, but hesitated a little, before he put his hand on her face. This was the first time that he had ever touched a girl's face. As he wiped her tears, he felt her smooth skin. Suddenly, Amber closed her eyes as she held his hand and rubbed it on her face, surprising Zack. She opened her eyes again and stared into his eyes. Looking back into her eyes, Zack saw something that he had never seen before. Her teary eyes were sparkling beautifully like the ocean during a bright sunshine. He was surprised a little when she suddenly repeated, "I'm not crying because of that, Zack."  
  
Zack was a little confused, "Then, what is it?"  
  
Amber looks back down to the ground, "I'm crying because."  
  
There was a brief pause before she continued, "Because I'm so glad!"  
  
Zack was surprised when he heard that.  
  
"I'm so glad that you're alright!"  
  
What happened next completely surprised Zack. After finishing her sentence, Amber suddenly hugged him and started to cry.  
  
"I'm so glad that you're alright, Zack!"  
  
Zack was surprised when she did, but when he realized that she was crying, he pushed her away gently and looked at her face. He slowly wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face again. After he did, he looked into her eyes, her beautiful, sparkling eyes. She was still sobbing as she looked back into his eyes. After a while of staring into each other's eyes, their face started to get close to each other. Eyes closed, their lips were about to meet when suddenly they heard. However, their moment was immediately broken when they heard loud barking from behind. After the barking, the two heard a voice.  
  
"Hey, it's you two!"  
  
Surprised, they turned around to see some people standing a few distances away from them. Looking carefully at them, they realized that it was Squall and everybody else.  
  
"No wonder Angelo came running here," Irvine said, adjusting his hat a little.  
  
Zack and Amber looked at each other. Squall and the others had found them. Zack looked at Squall. He did not look that thrilled to see them, in fact, he looked a little angry.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER IX (B): SEPHIROTH AND THE SORCERESS  
  
Zack and Amber are sitting beside each other on one of the three beds in a small bedroom of the mansion. They were now in Deling City where Squall had brought them. Squall did not say anything along their way to the city. The mansion was Rinoa's home. That was where everyone's going to stay in for the time being.  
  
"What do you think is Squall going to do about us?" asked Amber, breaking the silence.  
  
Zack thought for a moment, "I don't know. But I think that he'll let us stay with him til we're done around here. That's what I think."  
  
Amber looked at him for a while. Then, she looked around the room. There was a long pause when suddenly, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Zack and Amber stood up when it did. At the door were Irvine and Zell.  
  
"Squall wants to see you two," Zell shouted.  
  
Zack and Amber looked at each other.  
  
Taking a big breath and then letting it out, Zack said calmly, "Let's go."  
  
They then exited the room, together with Irvine and Zell.  
  
*********  
  
In the sitting room, Squall was looking out the window. Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis were sitting on a couch together while Angelo laid in front of Rinoa. Roger, Jacky and Cindy were sitting on another couch in the room. When Zack, Amber, Irvine and Zell entered the room, everyone turned to look at them. Looking at Squall, Zack couldn't help but noticed the serious look on his face. Zell shut the door and stood, together with Irvine, behind Zack and Amber. Squall continued to stare at them for a while before walking a few feet towards them.  
  
Breathing out a breathe of disappointment, Squall finally spoke, "Why did you two try to follow us? I told you that we don't want to risk any other lives in this mission."  
  
"But we have to, Squall. We've got something to do with Sephiroth," Zack protested.  
  
"Sephiroth? Who's that?" Roger asked, curious.  
  
Turning to him, Zack explained, "Sephiroth is the man in the black cape that is involved in your mission."  
  
"Is that so?" Cindy said.  
  
"And who might you two be?" Jacky asked.  
  
"I'm Amber and this is Zack."  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Cindy."  
  
"And I'm Jacky."  
  
"Yeah, we know that already," Zack told them, surprising them when he did.  
  
When she noticed that, Amber explained, "We were there when you three introduced yourselves to Squall and the others."  
  
"Enough already!" Squall yelled to Zack and Amber, surprising them. When he had their attentions, he continued, "Just because you are now here in Deling City, doesn't mean that I can't send you back to the garden."  
  
"What?" Zack, surprised.  
  
"Please don't do that to us, Squall," begged Amber.  
  
Then, Rinoa cut in the conversation, "Squall, I think you're being mean to them."  
  
That surprised Squall as she stood up, "Don't you think that this might be important to them, that they left the garden secretly to get here?"  
  
Squall looked at her for a while, thinking. He then turns to Zack and Amber.  
  
When he did, Zack said to him, "Please, Squall. Let us come with you to face Sephiroth and that sorceress!"  
  
Squall continued to stare at them before he sighed loudly, "Fine, you may come."  
  
"Thanks, Squall!" Zack exclaimed, feeling really happy.  
  
Quistis then stood up, "Okay, since this problem is finally taken care of. What are we going to do next, Squall?"  
  
Squall turned to look at Zack, "Anything we need to know about Sephiroth?"  
  
Zack thought to himself for a moment.  
  
"Come on, let us hear it!" Irvine said.  
  
"All right. Sephiroth is a powerful person, who is especially good with sword handling. Not only that, he's also good with casting magic," Zack stopped as he looked at Amber, remembering the event that happened to her at the abandon reactor on Mt. Nibel. He then continued, "We need to defeat him. He's somebody that won't hesitate to kill anyone that gets in his way!"  
  
*********  
  
Next morning, Squall and Rinoa are coming out of the mansion, Angelo running beside Rinoa. Everyone else was already waiting outside. They walked over to join the group.  
  
"What now, chief?" Irvine asked Squall.  
  
Standing in front of the group, Squall answered, "We'll search for Sephiroth and the sorceress and at the same time, gather as much information about what they've done lately."  
  
"Easy job!" Zell shouted.  
  
"Then, let's get started already!" Selphie cheered, feeling a little impatient.  
  
"We'll split into three groups. Zell, Jacky and Cindy go with Quistis," Squall ordered. He then turns towards Irvine and Roger, "You two go with Selphie."  
  
"Got it!" Irvine answered.  
  
"Rinoa, Zack, Amber," he called, looking at them, "You're be coming with me."  
  
He then looked sharply at Zack and Amber. They were a little surprised at that.  
  
"I'm going to make sure that you don't cause any trouble."  
  
Zack was a little offended with that, "Fine, but I'm telling you. You've just misjudged us."  
  
"Whatever," was all Squall said before he shouted to everyone, "We'll regroup back here at noon. Before then, gather as much as you can about Sephiroth and the sorceress. If any of you see them, immediately contact the others."  
  
After confirming Squall's command, everyone went, in their groups, to different directions. Angelo, of course, went together with Rinoa, that is with Squall's group.  
  
A few hours passed and noon arrived. Quistis's group was the first to arrive back at the gate of the mansion. Then, it was Squall's group.  
  
As his group reached the gate, Squall asked Quistis, "Found anything?"  
  
"Yes, but most of it are the same," she answered.  
  
Just then, Selphie's group arrived. When they reached the gate, Squall asked them the same question. However, their answer was also the same.  
  
"Why don't we get back inside and discuss what we've found?" Rinoa suggested.  
  
Squall agreed with her and they all went inside the mansion.  
  
*********  
  
Inside the mansion, in the sitting room, everyone has told Squall what they have found out about what Sephiroth and the sorceress had done lately. It would seem that the man in the black cape, Sephiroth, had indeed caused some trouble in the city and even killed some pedestrians right on the streets. The sorceress was always seen in his company and seemed to have killed some people on the streets herself. Some families were still grieving over losing their loved ones to the horrible duo.  
  
"We've got to stop those two before they kill any more people!" Selphie shouted to Squall.  
  
"We still don't know who the sorceress is, Selphie. And we also don't know how powerful they may be," Irvine said to her.  
  
"We may not know how powerful the sorceress is," Zell cut in, "But at least, Zack and Amber know how powerful is that fellow, Sephiroth."  
  
Zack and Amber, who sat beside one another, were a little surprised when he said that.  
  
"Yes, that is true. There shouldn't be much trouble for us to face them," Quistis, getting in the discussion, "After all, we've been through dangers as dangerous as this."  
  
Rinoa then looks at Squall, "What do you think, Squall?"  
  
Squall had been looking out the window, deep in thought. There was a short pause.  
  
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Quistis," Squall finally answered.  
  
Surprising Quistis a little, Squall turned around to face everyone, "I've got a feeling that there is something else behind all of this. But I just don't know what it is."  
  
Looking at each other, Amber whispered to Zack, "Do you think we should tell them?"  
  
"Yes, I think we better should," Zack answered her before standing up from the couch, "Squall."  
  
Squall then looked at him. So did everyone else.  
  
"There's something that Amber and I have to tell you now before there's any misunderstanding between us."  
  
Everyone, including Squall, was a little surprised at that. Then, Amber stood up.  
  
"Zack and I came from another world." 


	11. Chapter X

CHAPTER X (A): SUPPORTERS OF THE LEADER  
  
Everyone was surprised when Amber revealed to them that Zack and her came from another world. They did not believe her at first, but after the two explained to them what they went through, they began to believe them.  
  
"So, you two are from another world?" Zell, still surprised.  
  
"Yes, but Zack isn't from my world. He's from another world," Amber explained.  
  
Zack then continued, "Yeah, I'm from another world and somehow appeared in her world before we came here through the vortex that we've just told you about."  
  
Squall had been listening to their story with deep interest.  
  
Looking at him, Rinoa asked Squall, "Squall, do you think that the sorceress that appeared here, might be.?"  
  
Squall thought for a moment before he answered, "I don't know."  
  
He then turned to look out the window, "But it seems to be so."  
  
He paused as he continued looking out the window.  
  
"Who is it that you suspect the sorceress to be?" Cindy suddenly asks, breaking the silence in the room.  
  
"We think that the sorceress may be someone that we've defeated just some time ago," Quistis answered her.  
  
"The one and, I hope, the only, Sorceress Ultimecia," Irvine continued after Quistis.  
  
Amber, Roger, Jacky and Cindy were surprised when they heard that. Zack, however, was not as surprised as they are. He had already suspected that after overhearing the conversation between Headmaster Cid and Squall's party back at the garden.  
  
"But. how can that be? Didn't you guys defeat her?" Roger, disbelieving what he has just heard.  
  
"We did, Roger. Don't be alarmed. We're just suspecting that it is her," Rinoa, assuring Roger.  
  
Hearing that, Roger slowly calmed himself as he sat down on the couch next to Jacky and Cindy.  
  
"So, what are we going to do now?" Jacky asked, looking at everyone for an answer.  
  
Rinoa then turns to Squall, who was still looking out the window. Though she couldn't see his face, she knew that he was thinking seriously, like he always did.  
  
"Well, Squall?" she asked, her voice calm and soft but it also gave out a little sense of worry.  
  
Squall thought for a while, thinking hard what was best that can be done at that point. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not think of any plan that would not endanger his party.  
  
"I can't think of anything, except going after them," he answered, feeling disappointed with himself.  
  
Rinoa noticed that and walked up to Squall.  
  
"It's all right, Squall," she said. Putting her arms around his waist and leaning herself against him, she continued, "We all know how hard it is to decide something like this and still try to lookout for the safety of others. But we just can't do that every time."  
  
As she said that, Angelo slowly walked up to the two. Standing beside the two, Angelo looked up and barked at them, as if it was also worried about Squall. Still hugging him tightly, she continues with her soft and gentle voice.  
  
"Sometimes. we just got to take the risk."  
  
After hearing her, Squall thought to himself again. Standing still, Zack had been watching them quietly like the others.  
  
"Squall." he whispered softly to himself. Looking at Squall, he thought to himself, "Squall is. Squall is actually worried about us. I never thought that he would change so much after the game. But I don't blame him. After his adventure, he had started to grow fond with his friends and the people around him. I guess that's what he's worried about."  
  
"The one he loves the most," he thought, looking at Rinoa. He then looks at Selphie, Zell, Irvine and Quistis, "The safety of his closest friends."  
  
"The lives of his younger team members," he continued, looking at Roger, Jacky and Cindy. He then looks at Amber, who stood beside him, looking at the couple, "And there's also me and Amber."  
  
He then looks back at Squall and Rinoa, "Although I didn't see it, Rinoa knew. Together with Angelo, they knew that Squall was trying hard to think of something that would secure our safety. So. what happens now?"  
  
The pause in the air was finally broken when Selphie asked, "So, are we going after the two or not?"  
  
Squall started thinking again, trying hard to think of another plan. Rinoa noticed that and hugged him tighter. Doing so surprised Squall a little, thus, breaking his thought.  
  
"Everything will be all right, Squall," she says with her soft voice, "We'll be alright. Don't worry too much."  
  
Even after hearing that, Squall was still unsure, but then, Zell surprised Squall, along with everyone else, when he suddenly jumped up.  
  
"That's right, Squall. We'll be alright."  
  
Even so, Squall was still not sure. Just then Irvine joined Zell.  
  
"Rinoa's right, Squall. We'll all be alright."  
  
Squall looked at him and then Selphie, who suddenly stood up to join Zell and Irvine.  
  
"We'll be fine, Squall. You know that."  
  
Just as Selphie was done, Quistis stood up, too, smiling at him that smile of confidence of hers.  
  
"Don't worry about us, Squall. We'll be fine, even though we're not as good as you are," Roger shouted, standing up, as Jacky and Cindy stood up beside him.  
  
Squall looked at them, a little in disbelief.  
  
Wanting to support him, Amber shouted out, "Zack and I will be fine, too, Squall."  
  
Squall looked at her and then Zack, who nodded at him, smiling happily. However, Squall was still skeptical about it. Just then, Rinoa, who was still hugging him tightly, said with her soft voice again.  
  
"It'll be all right, Squall. While you were always looking out for us, we were always looking out for you."  
  
Hearing this, Squall thought to himself for a moment. Rinoa watched him patiently as he did, together with Angelo, who whimpered softly beside them. There was a long pause while everyone waited for Squall's reaction. Just then, Squall turned around to face Rinoa, smiling happily.  
  
"Thank you, Rinoa." Hearing that, Rinoa smiled in relief. He then turned to look at everyone, "Thank you all for your support."  
  
"Hey, it's nothing new at all," Zell answered him.  
  
Squall smiled happily when he heard him.  
  
"Then, let's get going!" Selphie cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.  
  
Squall nodded his head in agreement and shouted to everyone, "Let's go and find Sephiroth and that sorceress."  
  
Everyone cheered before leaving the room, Angelo as well. However, Angelo stopped at the door and looked back at the couple. The couple stood still. Rinoa was still hugging him tightly. Then, they looked at each other, lovingly.  
  
"Thanks, Rinoa."  
  
Rinoa smiled happily when he did. Squall smiled back before kissing her on her lips. After that, they followed everyone else and left the room, followed from behind Angelo.  
  
*********  
  
It took them a while, but they finally heard from a teenager who told them that he saw a man in a black cape and a sorceress with black wings on her back appearing around at the entrance of the city, near the car park. They headed for the car park, but when they got there, they were shocked to see what was before them.  
  
"My goodness, what happened?" Quistis gasped as Angelo whimpered away and hid behind Squall.  
  
There were a few blood-covered bodies laying around at the car park. The sight of it was horrible, like as if it was out of a horror movie with a mad murderer in it. The faces of each body were what scared Zack the most. Each of them showed terrible agony and was staring blankly at him, as if wanting him to help them stop their pain. There were other people in the area, but they were even more scared than they were, cowering away from the bodies. After staring at the bodies for a while more, Zack just couldn't take and was the first in the party to look away. Amber looked away just as he did. Everyone else was too shocked to look away. Squall knew what had happened and started to look around. Suddenly, they were all frightened by a loud, blood-curling scream.  
  
"What was that!?" Selphie asked nervously.  
  
"Let's find out!" Irvine answered before they all ran towards where the scream had come from.  
  
The scream came not from the car park but from a small fenced park near it. Everyone reached the gate of the park. Then, another scream frightened them. This time, it was louder.  
  
"We're getting closer to it," Zell shouted, "Come on!"  
  
They ran some more towards where the last scream came from and came to a small open field where they were frightened once more by what they saw.  
  
"Not again!" Selphie screamed.  
  
In the open field were more bleeding, lifeless bodies. These ones had the same expressions as the ones at the car park.  
  
"This cannot be." murmured Rinoa as she stared at the bodies, shocked.  
  
Squall was busy looking around. Just then, everyone heard Angelo barking loudly.  
  
"Over there!" Zell, shouted, seeing what Angelo was barking at.  
  
There, a short distance from where they stood was a man in a black cape.  
  
"Sephiroth!" Zack gasped when he saw the man.  
  
The man in the black cape, Sephiroth, seemed to have heard him and turned to face them. Zack could see a smirk appear on his face when he looked at him.  
  
"So, you have actually come after me," Sephiroth said to Zack, "I thought that you were too slow to do that."  
  
Zack felt a little angry when he heard Sephiroth's remark. Sephiroth laughed when he saw that.  
  
Rinoa then demanded, "Who are you and what do you want with these innocent people?"  
  
Sephiroth looked at her. Somehow, his stare broke her bravery.  
  
"Zack," Sephiroth, turning to look at him, "Haven't you tell them about me yet?"  
  
Sephiroth looked into Zack's eyes. His stare also frightened Zack a little.  
  
"Of course I did!" Zack shouted at Sephiroth, while, at the same time, trying to stay brave.  
  
Sephiroth laughed when he noticed that.  
  
"That's enough, Sephiroth!" Squall suddenly snapped, "What do you want with these people?"  
  
"Silence, SeeD!" suddenly, a sharp voice pierced through the air.  
  
"That voice!" Selphie exclaimed, shocked, as she looked around frantically.  
  
As she did, Angelo barked noisily before growling fiercely, while looking at the sky.  
  
"It can't be!" Irvine gasped.  
  
Suddenly, a woman, who had a pair of black wings on her back and wearing a very bizarre robe, appeared above them all. Glaring down at the group, she slowly descended to the ground. As the woman came closer to the ground, everyone was able to see the sorceress's face clearly.  
  
"Ultimecia!" Quistis gasped.  
  
"The ultimate boss of Final Fantasy VIII," thought Zack as fear started to engulf to him.  
  
As the sorceress slowly landed her feet on the ground near Sephiroth, she glared at the group sharply with her piercing eyes.  
  
"How can this be?" Rinoa said softly as fear seemed to engulf her.  
  
"So, it was her," Zell muttered softly.  
  
"Silence, SeeD!" Sorceress Ultimecia shrieked at the group again, frightening them, especially the less-experienced ones.  
  
As the group stayed silenced, Sephiroth suddenly laughed.  
  
"What a disappointment, Zack!" he said as he looked at the scared boy, "I thought you were a lot braver than that!"  
  
Zack couldn't say anything as Sephiroth laughed at him again. What Sephiroth said about him was right.  
  
"What is it that you want with the people of this city?" Cindy demanded.  
  
Immediately, Sephiroth glared at her. Like before, his stare broke her bravery.  
  
"Nothing really," he answered with his evil look.  
  
"Then why are you killing all the people here?" Jacky shouted.  
  
"Humph, if we had wanted to kill the people here, there wouldn't be any alive now!" Sephiroth answered, looking at him piercingly with his eyes, shattering his bravery as well.  
  
"Then, why are you here?" Roger asked.  
  
Roger's question was only answered with Sephiroth's evil grin. Before anyone could do anything, Sephiroth and the sorceress suddenly took off to the sky, with lightning speed, without saying a word.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Zack exclaimed before they disappeared in a flash of light.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER X (B): BACK AT GARDEN  
  
Zack is now in his small room, Room 13 in Section C inside Balamb Garden. Squall had called for Garden to pick them up; using the FMC that Xu gave him. Garden arrived near Deling City that night. Nothing else happened before that. The rest of the time that they were still in Deling City, they just waited for Garden. At that time, Squall and his friends were still shocked that Sorceress Ultimecia was alive once more and had appeared in their time. Roger, Jacky and Cindy did not have anything to say. So did Zack and Amber.  
  
Now, back in Garden, Squall went to give a report to Headmaster Cid, together with Rinoa and Quistis. Angelo was laying patiently on the floor near the elevator, waiting for Rinoa as she had told it to wait for her there. Irvine and Selphie went to the quad to spend a little time together. Zell went to the canteen for some more hot dogs. Zack was not sure where did Roger, Jacky and Cindy went though. Amber was just only in the next room. While looking out the window, Zack could not stop thinking about Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia.  
  
"How were they brought back and why?" was the question that kept playing in his mind.  
  
"Was it Thora who brought them back?" was what he constantly wondered.  
  
Zack just could not stop thinking about these questions and what the answers might be. Just then, his thoughts were broken by the knocking on the door of his room.  
  
"Zack," a voice from behind the door, "Are you still up?"  
  
Turning away from the window to the door, Zack answered, "Yeah, Amber. I'm still up. What is it?"  
  
The door opened and Amber entered.  
  
"I couldn't sleep. So, I wondered if you wanted to have a little walk with me."  
  
"Sure, Amber. I wasn't able to sleep either," Zack answered her, walking towards her as she exited the room.  
  
*********  
  
Zack and Amber were walking along the pathway in the center of the garden. They have been quiet since they left the dormitory.  
  
"So, what's going to happen?" Amber suddenly asked.  
  
"I don't know, Amber. First there was Sephiroth. Now, he is joined by Sorceress Ultimecia. Two powerful people from two different worlds and not to mention, Thora."  
  
Another silence fell upon them for a moment before he continued again, "I wonder how are they all linked."  
  
Just then, they met up with Roger, who was accompanied by Jacky and Cindy.  
  
"Hey there, Zack, Amber," Roger greeted the two.  
  
"Hi, Roger," Amber greeted back.  
  
"You guys still up?" Zack asked the three.  
  
"We were just heading to the dormitory," Cindy answered Zack, "What about you two?"  
  
"We couldn't sleep, so I asked Zack to have a walk with me for a while," Sophia explained.  
  
"I see," Jacky said, "A lot in your mind?"  
  
"Yeah, sure is," Zack answered.  
  
"I can tell. But don't worry too much, okay, Zack? Don't let it stop you from your daily doings," Jacky advised him.  
  
Zack smiled, "Yeah, I know, Jacky. I will. You don't have to worry about that."  
  
Jacky smiled back.  
  
"Where did you three go when we came back to Garden?" Amber asked the three.  
  
"We just went to the training center," Roger answered, "Trying to stay fit, y'know?"  
  
Excited, Roger took out a long stick, which was hanging on his back. He ran a few feet away from the group.  
  
"Check out my skills with my Stalag Onyx Stick!"  
  
Roger then starts to swing the stick around, showing his skills off to the group. When he was done, the group clapped in applause of Roger's short display.  
  
"Thank you. Thank you," Roger, bowing down at the group like as if he was on stage.  
  
Suddenly, Xu interrupted them when she appeared, "Hey, guys. I'm sorry, but you would all have to turn in for the night. It is best for all to sleep early, especially after a field mission like yours."  
  
"Yeah, we know, Xu," Cindy said before the group left for the dormitory.  
  
"Well, that's all for our walk, huh, Amber?" Zack said to Amber.  
  
Amber just nodded in agreement.  
  
*********  
  
Zack is walking along an empty street. However, he doesn't seem to have any place in mind to go to. He thought to himself for a moment as he walked on, where was it he was heading for. Just then, he realized that it has been a lot more quiet than usual. He looked at both side of the street, but there was not a single person or moving vehicle in sight, not even a bird.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
He continued walking for a moment, looking around for any signs of life, but there wasn't any. He looked into the houses along the street. Not a soul in any of them.  
  
"Where's everyone?"  
  
He walked to a nearby shopping mall, but still no life.  
  
"Why isn't there anyone?" Zack wondered again, feeling a little panicked when suddenly, he felt as if he was swallowed by some of darkness. Zack opened his eyes and sat up quickly off his back, breathing quickly in and out. He looked around, still breathing quickly. Realizing he was still in his little room in the dormitory, he laid back onto the bed, feeling a little relieved, "It was only a dream. But why did it feel so real?"  
  
Suddenly, a knocking on his door surprised him.  
  
"Zack! Get up and get some breakfast!" he heard Roger's voice from behind the door, "Amber and the others are already waiting for ya at the canteen!"  
  
"All right, Roger!"  
  
As he pulled his feet off the bed onto the floor, Roger entered through the door.  
  
"Well, ya'd better hurry, if you don't wanna keep the others waiting."  
  
"Yeah, I know, Roger."  
  
Nothing else happened that morning. Zack did not tell the others about his dream, not seeing any point to it. He, Amber, Roger, Jacky and Cindy had their breakfast together in the canteen. As they ate, they talked more about one another. Roger was born in Balamb Town and came to Balamb Garden when he was ten years old. Jacky was from City of Esthar and came to the garden when he was only 8. Cindy, on the other hand, came from Winhill and was transferred to Balamb Garden from Trabia Garden just three years ago.  
  
While they were still eating, Jacky left for an early training lecturing. He was called to take over an instructor who could not attend the lecturing that morning. Half an hour later, everyone went to the training center. They wanted to watch Jacky as he lectures the SeeD candidates. Arriving at the training center, they could clearly hear Jacky's lecture.  
  
"Always be sure that you are not in a disadvantage during a battle against a monster, monsters or human opponents. If you find yourself in one, it is best that you rethink your plan of attack. In some cases, it is best to just run away."  
  
As the group got deeper into the training center, they could see a group of five SeeD candidates. Three of the candidates were young girls while the other two were boys. In front of the group, they saw Jacky.  
  
"Take for example, Jeremy," Jacky looks at one of the boys, "When you were attack by three Grats, you should not only attack them one by one, although that can be done if you were stronger, but the best way to defeat them, by yourself, is by using some magic. Since you were facing Grats, the best choice would be ice or fire type magic."  
  
Understanding Jacky's advice, the boy, Jeremy, nodded his head.  
  
"Okay, that would be all for this morning's lecturing," Jacky announced, "Your training lecturing will continue at one o'clock this afternoon. At that time, Instructor Gallon will be your lecturer. You are all dismissed until then."  
  
The young group then broke up and walked pass Zack and the others, leaving the center.  
  
"Smooth lecturing, Jacky." Roger praised Jacky, as they walked towards where Jacky stood, ".As always."  
  
"What? This wasn't his first?" Amber asked, a little surprised along with Zack.  
  
"No way!" Roger answered, laughing as he went on, "Every instructor in the garden, who aren't able to make it to a lecturing, would surely go looking for Jacky to help take their place. Most of us are confident that he will become an instructor sooner or later."  
  
"Wow, no wonder Headmaster Cid considered you a capable SeeD," Zack said.  
  
"And so what if I am?" Jacky asked jokingly.  
  
Everyone laughed at that.  
  
"Hey, I'm feeling the need to fight some monsters. Let's get inside the center, shall we?" Roger, feeling a little excited.  
  
"Sorry, Roger. But I'm feeling kinda tired. Training lecturing isn't just all talk, you know?" Jacky explained.  
  
"Ah, come on. You can take a rest in that little place Quistis told us before," Roger urged Jacky, "Besides, Cindy will be there to accompany you."  
  
Before Jacky could say anything, Roger ran passed him, heading towards the entrances into the center. He stopped before turning back towards the others.  
  
"Come on already!"  
  
Looking back at him, Jacky sighs before answering, tiresomely, "Fine, let's go."  
  
"Now that's more like it!" Roger shouted before running through one of the entrances, followed by the others. 


	12. Chapter XI

CHAPTER XI (A): FIVE VS. FIVE, ONE-ON-ONE  
  
Inside the training center, the five young teens are wandering around. Roger is searching impatiently for some Grats. Zack followed him from behind with Amber beside him. Jacky and Cindy walked together calmly, not really wanting to fight with anything at the moment.  
  
"Man, isn't there, at least, one monster to fight with?" Roger exclaimed as he beat some bushes with his rod.  
  
He was feeling a little frustrated that they have not met any monsters since they entered the center.  
  
"Roger, stop looking for them. They're probably resting at this time," Cindy told him.  
  
Roger laughed as he answered her, "Stop kidding yourself! I have been fighting monsters since I started using a stick and I have never seen a monster that rests at this time of day."  
  
It was late in the morning and it has already been quite a while since they entered the center. After another while has passed, Amber sees a path leading to somewhere. It was a metal-plated path near some rocks.  
  
"Where does that path lead to?"  
  
Hearing her, everyone looked towards where she was looking at.  
  
"That leads to the place that Quistis told us some time ago," Roger explained to her, "It was supposed to be a secret for some in the garden, but it didn't take long before almost every student in the garden knew about it."  
  
"Don't forget the instructors," Cindy continued after him.  
  
"Yeah, that's right."  
  
"Oh, I see," Amber, looking at the path, "Are we going there?"  
  
"Yeah, right after I fight some monsters," Roger answered before heading towards the bushes again.  
  
As he went on beating the bushes again, Jacky said to him, "Uh, Roger. I think the reason why we have not seen any monsters, since we entered the center, is because you have been scaring them with your beating on the bushes."  
  
Just as he was done, Roger stopped his body completely for a moment before he turned his head towards the group.  
  
"Do you think so?"  
  
"Yeah, Roger, I think that may be it," Zack answered.  
  
"Okay." was all Roger said, as he withdrew back his stick and turned to the group, "So, what am I supposed to do?"  
  
"How about stop beating the bushes and let's just go to that place and rest?" Jacky suggested sharply to Roger, "Is that fine with you?"  
  
"All right, fine. Let's go," Roger sighed before he walked towards the group.  
  
Only taking a few steps, the five were suddenly surprised when five Grats appeared and attacked them. Luckily for them, the Grats' attack only surprised them. As the five grouped together, they prepared themselves for a fight, but to their surprise, the Grats had formed a circle around them, surrounding them.  
  
Surprisingly, Roger smiled before he shouted to Jacky, "Hey, maybe you were right, Jack!"  
  
Jacky just sighed at that as he said tiresomely once more, "Let's just get this over with."  
  
He then continued, "Battle tactic one-on-one! One of them and one of us, got it?"  
  
"Gotcha!" Roger answered, swinging his stick around with his eyes focused on one of the Grats that stood in front of him.  
  
"Let's dance, shall we?" he said, cheekily smiling at it.  
  
Jacky rolled his eyes when he heard him, "So childish."  
  
Zack, on the other hand, smiled happily. It was funny to see Roger so excited about fighting monsters. Looking at the Grat in front of him, he continued smiling.  
  
"Never thought that I would ever get the chance to fight you, Grat," he whispered to himself, as he stood in his attack pose with the Ultimega Sword ready in his hands. The Grat unpleasantly growled at him as its four tentacles swung around in the air, ready to attack.  
  
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to let that be your last movement in your life," Zack said before charging towards it.  
  
With its low evasive ability, the Grat could not evade Zack's attack and one of its tentacles was cut off. It cried gruesomely as it flinched after the attack. Giving an attack opportunity, Zack stabbed his sword right through the Grat's body. As he jumped away from the Grat, the Grat's blood sprayed out from the wound as it fell to the ground and vanished. Having killed his Grat, Zack looked at the others' progress.  
  
Waiting for a counter move, Jacky stood ready to attack. Zack was a little surprised to see his weapon, or was it weapons, he thought. They were unlike any other sword he has ever seen or imagined. The blades of the swords were normal, but the strange part about them was their handles. The handles were placed at the side of the swords unlike the normal swords or the one Zack used. Holding the handles tightly, the blades of the swords laid along the bottom side of Jacky's arms. The tips of the blades reached pass his elbows.  
  
Just then, the Grat suddenly charged towards Jacky with its tentacles ready to attack. However, Jacky was quick enough to jump aside. Just as he landed on the ground, he quickly charged back at the Grat and slashed a mean wound at the Grat's body. The Grat cried a gruesome cry of pain before vanishing into thin air.  
  
Still in the pose that he attacked the Grat in, he sighed before saying, "You Grats aren't much of a challenge for my Sahara Side-bladers."  
  
As he stood back upright, Jacky slowly slipped his sword into their cases, which hung on his belt and along his legs. Then, he looked to his left. Zack followed suit. It was Cindy that Jacky had turned his attention to, Zack realized, when he saw her. She was standing calmly in front of her Grat. The Grat seemed to be waiting for her to move first.  
  
"Hmph, it has been a while now and you've not move once. I guess you're waiting for me to move," she said to the monster, smiling, "Thank you for being a gentleman. I mean, gentlemonster, but that is a mistake for you."  
  
Raising her right hand close to her face, she chanted, "Eye of Ruby! Gaze like the ruby you are! And cast the magic that you are command to cast!"  
  
After her chant, she kissed, what seemed to Zack, a ring on one of her fingers. To his surprise, the ring suddenly started to glow after her kiss.  
  
"Ruby! Cast, Blizzaga!" Cindy commanded, punching out her right hand towards the monster.  
  
As she did, the ring's glow suddenly shot out a beam towards the Grat. When the beam hit the monster, the monster completely turned into ice. That was not all. Then, a giant block of ice suddenly appeared right on the Grat. After a short moment, the ice shattered away, revealing the monster once more. But just as the last ice disappeared, the Grat suddenly cried out gruesomely before falling to the ground and vanishing away. Putting her hand down, the glow on the ring slowly faded away. Just as it did, Jacky walked towards her.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
Turning around towards him, she smiled while answering, "Yeah, I'm alright."  
  
Jacky smiled when he heard that. On the other hand, Zack had been watching them, still standing at where he killed his Grat. Just then, they all heard a loud war cry. They turned towards where it came from. It came from Roger. He was completely having fun playing with his Grat, although the Grat seemed to be annoyed and tired.  
  
"Man, this is FUN!" shouted Roger as he circled the tired Grat.  
  
Zack looked towards Jacky. His hand was rubbing his forehead. He was feeling sort of embarrassed. Zack laughed. He knew the reason why Jacky did so. It was because of Roger's childish behavior. Just then, they heard another war cry from Roger. He was charging towards the Grat. Just as he was a few feet away from the monster, it tried to attack him but missed. Roger was still playing with it. He did not actually want to attack it just yet. He still wanted to play with it some more.  
  
"Just finish it off, Roger!" Zack heard Jacky shouted, finally.  
  
Stopping for a moment, Roger looked back at Jacky as he shouted childishly, "Just a few more minutes!"  
  
"Just finish it! NOW!"  
  
"Aw, fine," mumbled Roger. Looking at the Grat, he said confidently, "I guess I can't play with you anymore. So, I guess it's time for the quick goodbye."  
  
He then charges at the Grat. With one blow from Roger's Stalag Onyx Stick, the Grat immediately fell to the ground and vanished. Still standing in his attacking pose, he sighed disappointingly.  
  
"That wasn't fun."  
  
Jacky sighed when he heard that. Zack laughed when he saw that.  
  
"No matter what happens, Roger will always behave like a little boy, won't he, Jacky?" said Cindy.  
  
Jacky sighs again before continuing, "He is so childish."  
  
Cindy giggled a little.  
  
"Four down, one left. And that's Amber's," thought Zack, turning towards where Amber was.  
  
She did not seem to have much trouble with her Grat. However, he did notice something. The Grat was not injured or even harmed. Just then, Amber shot a bullet at the Grat. Zack thought that it was a hit but instead, it was a miss. The Grat had dodged the flying bullet, unlike the earlier Grats, which were slow moving. It was then that he realized that Amber has gone up against a fast-moving Grat.  
  
"Amber, do you need help?" Zack shouted at her.  
  
"No, I'm fine!" she shouted back with her eyes still on the Grat.  
  
"If it's okay, Amber, let me slow that Grat down for you," Cindy shouted, stretching out her ring, which started to glow again.  
  
Kissing her ring again, Cindy shouted, "Slow!"  
  
A beam shot out from the ring again, hitting the Grat without any problem.  
  
"It shouldn't give you any more trouble now, Amber," Cindy shouted to Amber.  
  
"Thanks, Cindy," Amber shouted back as she aimed at the now slow-moving Grat.  
  
She took a few shots at the Grat and it was a hit with every one of it. The Grat cried agonizingly as it dropped to the ground. However, it did not vanish yet. Weakly, it spat some liquid from its mouth.  
  
"Gastric Juice!" thought Zack, recognizing the attack, which are only done by Grats.  
  
The juice was flying through the air heading for Amber, who was still unaware of the danger.  
  
"Amber!" shouted Zack urgently.  
  
Just as Amber finally realized the juice heading towards her, she suddenly disappeared from Zack's sight. The juice splattered on the empty ground. Surprised, Zack looked around.  
  
"Are ya alright?" suddenly he heard.  
  
He looked towards the direction where the voice came from. There, he saw Roger together with Amber, who was a little shaken by the quick tackle Roger did to her in order to get her away from the juice.  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright," Amber answered, still shaken.  
  
Zack sighed in relief, "That's good."  
  
Standing up, Roger pulled Amber up, "You should be more careful next time, Amber. That juice spat by the Grat could've done some damage on ya."  
  
"Yeah, thanks, Roger."  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
Just then, the injured Grat growled weakly. But in a moment, its growl was silenced by Jacky when he slashed it with his blades.  
  
"Stay silent already."  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER XI (B): BATTLE WITH T-REX  
  
Zack and the others are now resting inside the place that they were headed for earlier, the little place where Quistis and Squall had a little time with each other at the start of the game, Zack realized. There were a few other people, all of them, young SeeD candidates in their normal clothes. Jacky and Cindy were together at one side of the place. On the other hand, Zack, Amber and Roger are together at the other side of the place.  
  
"Roger, what's Jacky's relationship with Cindy?" Amber asked Roger, curious after watching the two for a while.  
  
Confused, Roger answered her, "What? You still don't know?"  
  
"Hey, I was wondering about that, too. For some time now," Zack told him, watching the two talking with each other.  
  
Roger sighed before answering, "I guess not everyone can see it that easily. Okay, here's how it is. Jacky and Cindy, they have something that's similar with what Squall shares with Rinoa. You get me?"  
  
"Huh?" Amber, confused by what Roger just said, while on the other hand, Zack understood it a little.  
  
"You mean that they are in love?" Zack asked.  
  
"You got that right."  
  
"Is that so?" Amber, surprised a little.  
  
Zack watched the couple once more. Now, he could tell that they were having a happy conversation with one another. For some reason, he just could not help smiling to himself.  
  
*********  
  
Half an hour passed and the five finally came back out.  
  
Roger stretched himself for a moment as he said, "Now, wasn't that a nice rest, eh Jack?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Roger."  
  
Roger laughed, a little satisfied, before shouting excitedly, "Okay! Now that we're all rested and energized! Let's find some more monsters!"  
  
"Is that all you think about, Roger?" Amber asked, surprised with his urge to fight.  
  
"Don't bother with it, Amber," advised Cindy, "That's all he thinks of when in an area inhabited by monsters."  
  
"Come on already!" Roger exclaimed to the others from a short distance away from them, "It's not like a monster's gonna walk right here and."  
  
Suddenly, before Roger could finish his sentence, a giant monster appeared through the small forest behind him, causing loud noises of tree branches breaking followed by a large wave of branches and leaves falling to the ground. Surprised, Roger immediately ran from where he stood to the small party. Seeing that the monster looked like the giant-lizard, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Zack knew immediately what it was.  
  
"A T-Rexaur!" Jacky gasped.  
  
The five stared at the giant lizard for a moment as it roared fearlessly in front of them.  
  
"I guess a monster did walk right here." Roger said a little shaken, but he soon changed when he started to feel excited again, "Yeah! Come on, guys! Let's not waste the lizard's generosity to appear and fight it!"  
  
Jacky sighed as he drew out his blades, while on the other hand, Zack laughed as he drew out his sword.  
  
Ready to fight, Jacky exclaimed to the others, "Okay, guys! T-Rexaur is a giant lizard as you can see and its weakness is ice-cold magic! Be extremely careful, Zack, Amber! T-Rexaur is not like any other monsters and just might even be the best type of monster in the garden's training center! So, prepare yourselves!"  
  
Everyone was prepared for a tough fight as the lizard roared once again before charging straight for Roger, jaws wide-opened. In a quick glimpse, Zack was surprised to see a smile on Roger's face as he jumped aside, away from the giant lizard's mouth. Missing its target, the lizard quickly got ready to attack again. As it did, Roger had already charged towards it.  
  
"Nothing to it but to do it!" Roger shouted as he stroke the T-Rexaur's body hard.  
  
It roared in pain for a moment but when it stood ready to fight again, it seemed as if the strike was nothing at all!  
  
"What the!?" Zack gasped when he saw that.  
  
Just then, he saw Cindy casting another magic.  
  
"Blizzaga!" she chanted as she pointed her glowing ring towards the creature.  
  
A beam shot out of the ring, hitting the lizard shortly after. The magic seemed to have some effect on it, although the lizard soon shook off its shock.  
  
"Zack!" Jacky suddenly called, "You attack its right! I'll attack its left!"  
  
"Got it!"  
  
The two then charged forward. Both of them slashed the lizard from both direction, leaving behind the monster roaring painfully and three mean wounds, one by Zack and two by Jacky. Although wounded badly, the lizard was still standing steadily.  
  
"Amber! Shoot at its wounds!" Jacky commanded.  
  
Upon hearing that, Amber immediately took aim at one of the creature's wounds. She took a shot and it was a direct hit into the wound. The T- Rexaur roared in agony as she took another shot into its other wound. Without warning, Roger suddenly jumped and attacked the wound with his rod, injuring the monster even more. Desperate, the T-Rexaur attacked Roger who was just beside it. However, Roger was still able to dodge its attack.  
  
"Ah, come on! Is that all you got, T-Rexaur?"  
  
Just as things seemed to get a little easy for Roger, suddenly the T-Rexaur leaped off its feet towards him. Surprised, Roger could not do anything but to get hit by the creature's enormous body. Roger was pushed hard to the fence barricading the forest in the training center.  
  
"Roger!" Zack shouted, rushing towards him.  
  
However, the T-Rexaur did not let Zack pass it to reach Roger, stopping him in his tracks.  
  
"Roger!"  
  
"Urgh, don't worry about me!" Roger shouted back, standing up slowly as he did, "Urgh, I'm alright."  
  
Seeing this, the monster tried to take him down again but was stopped when, from behind, Jacky slashed it, leaving behind two more wounds. After roaring out another terrible roar of pain, it turned its head towards Jacky. Staring into each other's eyes for a moment, the T-Rexaur then roared before swinging its long tail at him. Knowing that it would do so, Jacky carefully jumped onto its tail, stabbing his blades right through the monster's tail as he did. The lizard roared terribly in agony.  
  
"Do it, Cindy!" Jacky shouted to Cindy who stood a few meters behind him.  
  
Cindy immediately prepared herself and cast another Blizzaga at the monster. Just before her magic beam hit the monster, Jacky jumped off of it, along with his blood-covered blades. The beam hit the monster turning it into ice as a block of ice formed on it for a moment before shattering away. The T-Rexaur roared in pain this time as it wobbled a little in his movement. At this point, Zack immediately went for Roger who was still shaken from the earlier attack that he received.  
  
Just as he reached Roger, the T-Rexaur roared again before charging towards the two. Seeing this, Zack prepared himself for a fight. Just as the giant came closer and closer to Zack, he suddenly hears a few gunshots, which was followed by a loud roar of pain from the monster. Zack looked towards the person standing behind the creature, who had a smoking gun pointed right at the injured monster. Amber!  
  
Zack was glad to see Amber, who was smiling quite excitedly. But this moment was immediately halted when the giant lizard suddenly roared angrily and quickly turned its whole body around, swinging its strong tail right at Zack. In his quick thinking, Zack thought of slashing its already hurt tail as it came by. However, his timing was too slow as he was preparing to attack when suddenly he was thrown into the air by the strong tail and landing painfully on the hard dirt floor.  
  
"Zack!" screamed Amber when she saw this.  
  
Zack was now not in the condition to fight as he continued to hug his body, which felt as if a whole stampede of bulls had ran over him. He was definitely not ready to feel this much pain as he felt the desire to cry. But in his painful condition, he could not even feel the tear running down the side of his face from his left eye and dripping onto the dirt floor.  
  
"Zack!" cried Amber once more.  
  
"Amber! Stay focus!" shouted Cindy, "He'll be fine! Trust him!"  
  
Even so, Amber could not help it. She was too worried about Zack, who was still hugging himself on the floor.  
  
"Zack." was all that the still shaken Roger could murmur to himself. 


	13. Chapter XII

CHAPTER XII (A): DURING AND AFTER  
  
Jacky, Cindy and Amber continued fighting with the T-Rexaur, despite their two temporarily defenseless friends. Zack was laying on the floor, still in terrible pain, while Roger was slowly recovering from his shock.  
  
"Cindy, slow it down!" Jacky ordered.  
  
Upon hearing that, Cindy prepared her ring with a kiss before casting Slow at the monster. When her magic beam hit the monster, instantly Cindy prepared herself for another magic. Now that the T-Rexaur was slowed down, she could concentrate on her magic, in order to create more powerful magic.  
  
"Eye of Ruby! Glare like the eyes of the Ruby Dragon and cast more magic!" she chanted as her ring started to glow even brighter.  
  
Done with her chanting, Cindy cast another Blizzaga at the T-Rexaur. This time, the monster froze for a much longer period of time but only for a short time of almost a minute. Although it was a very short period of time, Jacky was still able to charge at the frozen creature and slashed at it. Being a sharp edge weapon, his blades only cut a few pieces of the monster's frozen meat off, leaving terribly large wounds. Being frozen, the T-Rexaur could not roar in pain. Amber shot a few bullets at the frozen creature but they only left bullet holes on the enormous creature's body.  
  
The ice on the frozen monster started to shatter away, first from the head. Jacky ran back to Cindy and Amber as he prepared himself to fight again. However, just as the creature's large head was finally free from the ice, its whole body suddenly shattered into a million crystal-blue pieces. The three were surprised but soon realized the figure standing at where the T- Rexaur once stood, who had a long stick in his hands.  
  
"Roger!"  
  
Roger had hammered the T-Rexaur right on its body, which was still frozen, with his rod. However, in doing so, he had made himself extremely tired. He was breathing deeply as his body slowly calmed itself down. Jacky and Cindy ran towards Roger while Amber ran to check on Zack.  
  
"Are you alright?" Cindy asked as she and Jacky stopped in front of Roger.  
  
Still taking heavy breaths, Roger answered, "Hey, I told you earlier I was fine."  
  
Just as he finished his sentence, Roger immediately collapsed into Jacky's arms. On the other hand, Amber was now beside Zack, who was still suffering the terrible pain caused by the T-Rexaur.  
  
"Zack, are you alright?" Amber shouted, very concerned about him.  
  
Still feeling the terrible pain, Zack did not even hear what Amber said. Just then, Cindy came to the two.  
  
"Zack, are you alright?"  
  
Still, Zack did not hear anything as tears continued rolling from his eyes. Just then, Jacky came along, carrying Roger with him.  
  
"What's the matter?" Jacky asked.  
  
"Zack is still not used to feeling so much pain!" Amber explained.  
  
"Still inexperienced?" Roger asked weakly while looking at Zack's face, which showed that he was in terrible pain.  
  
"Cure him, Cindy," Jacky said.  
  
However, Cindy was already getting ready to cast something on Zack.  
  
"Curaga!" Cindy shouted, pointing her ring at him.  
  
*********  
  
Zack finally opened his eyes. He was now laying on a bed in a small room. An opened window was just behind the bed he was laying on, making the room quite bright. Just then, he remembered. Cindy had helped to heal him a little with Curaga and then he was brought to the infirmary. Since then, he had been resting on the same bed. Zack sits up off his back and looks around. In front of the room that Zack was in was another room. The room had a large desk, which had plenty of files, stationeries and other stuffs on it. Behind the desk was a woman in a white overcoat.  
  
"Dr. Kadowaki?" Zack thought, remembering the doctor that was constantly in the infirmary of the Garden in the game.  
  
The woman, whose hair was tied into a ball at the back of her head, turned to look at him when she noticed that Zack was up.  
  
"Oh, so you're finally up."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do you know how long have you been resting on that bed?"  
  
"How long?"  
  
"Almost an hour."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, your friends were quite worried about you, especially that girl in the blue blouse."  
  
"Amber," Zack thought.  
  
"I've not seen anyone worry so much about their friend since Squall when Rinoa went into a coma."  
  
"The time after Squall and the others had defeated Sorceress Edea in Galbadia Garden," thought Zack.  
  
"Well, at least now you're fine. Next time, be more careful when you're fighting with a T-Rexaur. They're not such easy opponents to face with."  
  
Just then, the both of them were surprised when the door to the infirmary slided open.  
  
"You're right on time. Your friend has just woken up. He may leave the infirmary now," said Dr. Kadowaki to the person who had entered the infirmary.  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Kadowaki," answered the person as the doctor went to sit down behind her desk.  
  
Zack recognized the voice to be Roger's as he appeared in front of him.  
  
"Are you fine now?" Roger asked Zack, surprising him a little.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
Roger sighed in relief, "That's good to hear. Amber was really worried about you, did you know that?"  
  
"Dr. Kadowaki told me about that."  
  
"Good then. Come on, let's go and cheer her up. She's still quite worried about you."  
  
"All right," Zack answered as he got off the bed.  
  
Just as Zack stood on his two legs, he suddenly was attacked by a sudden dizziness. Luckily, Roger was quick enough to catch the weak boy before he fell to the floor.  
  
"Thanks, Roger."  
  
"No problem. Dr. Kadowaki, are you sure he's fine enough to leave the infirmary?"  
  
"Yes, don't worry. He's still shaken from the pain he felt when he was struck by the T-Rexaur. He'll be fine. All he needs is a good rest."  
  
"I see. Thank you again, Dr. Kadowaki," Roger said as he slowly carried Zack out the infirmary, "Come on, I'll carry you to the dormitory."  
  
*********  
  
Zack is now resting on his bed in his room in the dormitory. Roger has gone to tell the others that Zack was fine. It wasn't long before Roger came back with Amber, Jacky and Cindy.  
  
"Are you alright, Zack?" Amber immediately asked when she entered the room.  
  
"Yes, Amber, I'm alright. You didn't need to be so worried about me."  
  
Amber smiled in relief when she heard that.  
  
"Good then, we was quite troublesome for us to calm her down," Jacky said as he watched the two from behind the group.  
  
Amber just laughed when she heard, still smiling in relief.  
  
"All right, guys. Zack should be having his rest now. Doctor's order," Roger explained to the others.  
  
"Then, we'll leaving you alone now, Zack," Cindy said as she walked over to Jacky, who was already at the door.  
  
"Rest for the rest of the day, all right, Zack? Make sure that you're 100% ok before you get up. You don't want Amber to worry about you again, do you?" said Jacky as Cindy stood beside him.  
  
Zack laughed a little when he heard Jacky, "All right, Jacky. I will."  
  
"See you," Jacky said before leaving the room with Cindy.  
  
"Have a good rest, Zack," Amber said before standing up and leaving the room.  
  
Amber took another look at Zack before exiting the room. Roger, who had been at the door, slowly shut the door.  
  
Before he shut the door completely, he said, "Rest well, Zack."  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER XII (B): Next Move  
  
As Zack was resting in his room, up in the Headmaster's office, Squall and his party were having a meeting with Headmaster Cid. Matron and Xu were also there.  
  
"Sir, we will need assistance from Esthar. We need to borrow their Ragnarok," Rinoa said to the headmaster.  
  
"Why would you need the Ragnarok?" Cid asked.  
  
"As our report stated yesterday, the man and the sorceress that were in Deling City were Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia. Both of them were extremely powerful beings from different worlds, Sorceress Ultimecia in our world and Sephiroth from another. We will need the Ragnarok to find the two," Squall answered.  
  
"That is reasonable," Matron said, "But do you even know where the two might be?"  
  
Squall was surprised by the question, as he stayed silent. He did not know what to say.  
  
"They will appear somewhere. It's a sure thing!" Selphie exclaimed.  
  
"And when they do, what do you plan to do? Go and try to defeat them?" Matron asked.  
  
"That's of course the plan!" Zell answered.  
  
"If that is your plan, I would have to decline," said Cid.  
  
Surprising everyone, Rinoa asked, "Why?"  
  
"It seems to me, what you are planning is based on your obsession against the sorceress. Am I correct?" Cid answered.  
  
Squall was surprised by that.  
  
"What do you mean 'obsession against the sorceress'?" Zell exclaimed, "The two surely plan to destroy or dominate this world, together with the other worlds!"  
  
"Zell!" Xu snapped at Zell's sudden rudeness.  
  
Realizing it, Zell calmed himself down, "Sorry, sir."  
  
"I understand what you mean, sir. But like Zell said, the two will try to dominate or destroy our world and the other worlds. And so, we have to try and defeat them before they carry their plan even further," Squall said, calmly.  
  
"I have already known that. It seems to be a common thing between powerful beings," Cid explained, "But."  
  
"If you try to defeat the enemy based upon your emotions, you will not win," Matron continued after Cid.  
  
"Even if you have won the battle, you will lose the war. That is something you have to keep in mind, at all times, whenever you are about to face an enemy," Cid continued again.  
  
"We do keep that in mind, but we still have to face Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia," Rinoa said.  
  
Cid stayed silent for a while before he answered, "What you have just said is true. Our world and the others count on it. However, I will advise you once more. Be careful."  
  
Squall's party smiled happily when Cid said that. Squall just went on to thank the headmaster seriously. As he did, Xu went to the tower and buzzed the bridge.  
  
"Nida, set course for Fisherman Horizon."  
  
Through the voice transmitter, Nida answered, "Roger that, Xu."  
  
*********  
  
It was now late in the evening. Zack was feeling better and had gotten up. He went to have a short shower. After his shower, he wore back his clothes; after all, he did not have any other clothing. Just then, there was a knocking on his door as Roger appeared from behind the door.  
  
"So, you feeling better now?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good then, it's time for dinner. Amber and the others are already at the canteen. You should hurry it up."  
  
"I'm already done."  
  
"That's even better! Let's go."  
  
Arriving at the canteen, Roger led Zack to where Amber and the others were sitting. They already took a tray of the prepared dinner each.  
  
"Hey, you guys didn't wait for us!" Roger shouted.  
  
"Yes, we did. We still have not yet ate our meals," Cindy answered.  
  
"Ok, that's true, but you already picked your food, without waiting for us!" Roger replied.  
  
"And what if we did?" Jacky asked.  
  
"You could've at least taken a tray for us, too," Roger answered.  
  
Jacky laughed, "Sorry that we're not that thoughtful, Roger. Amber was the only thoughtful one. She helped Zack picked his meal."  
  
Zack and Roger were surprised when they heard that as Amber tried to hide her blushing face from them.  
  
"I hope you like what I picked, Zack," Amber said timidly.  
  
"Lucky you, Zack," Roger said before sighing tiresomely, "I guess I have to get my own meal. Wait for me, all right, you guys."  
  
"Sorry, Roger, but we're starving," Jacky replied.  
  
"Whatever! Enjoy your meals anyway," Roger said before running to the canteen counter.  
  
As Roger left, Zack sat down next to Amber, "Thanks, Amber. The meal is just fine."  
  
Amber had picked, for Zack, a plate of fried rice with a couple of fried chicken wings at the side and a large glass of fresh orange juice.  
  
"So, any plans on what to do tonight?" Zack asked.  
  
"None actually," Jacky answered, "Do you have anything in mind?"  
  
"Nope, just wondering," Zack replied.  
  
The four ate their meals quietly for a while, not knowing what to talk about. Just then, Roger appeared again, carrying a tray of the dishes he picked.  
  
"Hey, you guys did it again! You didn't wait for me!"  
  
"I told you that we were hungry, Roger. Didn't you hear me?" Jacky replied.  
  
"I did, but you could've at least wait for a short while, while I get my meal!"  
  
Zack laughed, "Sorry then, Roger."  
  
"Oh, ok, it's really fine," Roger said before sitting down at one end of the small rectangle-shaped table, "So, anything to do tonight?"  
  
"Nope," Cindy answered.  
  
"But don't plan on going to the training center again, Roger," Jacky continued, "Don't forget what just happened this afternoon."  
  
"Yeah, all right, I know that. I wasn't even thinking about," Roger explained, "Besides, I'm still tired from fighting with that T-Rexaur."  
  
"We told you to take some rest, but you didn't listen," Cindy said.  
  
"Hey, at that time, Zack was still in the infirmary and I was worried about him. I wasn't even thinking my fatigue."  
  
"Well, although you say so, I'm sure that Amber was the most worried amongst us all," Jacky said, "Weren't you, Amber?"  
  
Amber blushed in embarrassment when Jacky said that.  
  
Jacky laughed when he noticed that, "You have a crush on Zack, don't you, Amber?"  
  
Zack blushed in embarrassment, Amber even more so.  
  
"That's the best to explain Amber's feelings towards Zack!" Jacky continued.  
  
"Stop teasing them, Jacky. You, yourself, have a crush on somebody!" Roger exclaimed, "And that somebody is sitting right next to you!"  
  
"Well, at least, all of us have a crush on somebody. What about you, Roger? Do you have a crush on somebody?"  
  
Roger laughed a little, "All right, you got me there, Cindy, but I'm still young. I'll find somebody. You can bet on it."  
  
"You're confident. I picture that you'll just end up a single for the rest of your life," Jacky joked.  
  
All five of them, including Roger, laughed at Jacky's joke. Just then, their laughs were cut short when the Garden's PA system suddenly sounded.  
  
"This is Xu speaking. Will Zack Nurvana, Amber Rouge, Roger Carlo, Jacky Cage and Cindy Levion please come up to the headmaster's office? I repeat. Will Zack Nurvana, Amber Rouge, Roger Carlo, Jacky Cage and Cindy Levion please come up to the headmaster's office? That is all."  
  
"The headmaster's office? I wonder why," Roger said after the PA system sounded off.  
  
"Only one way to find out, and that's to go there," Jacky replied.  
  
"Then, let's finish our meals quickly before they turn impatient," Zack advised before putting a spoonful of rice into his mouth.  
  
"Okay then! Last one to finish his or her food makes our excuse if we're late!" Roger exclaimed excitedly before chowing down on his meal. 


	14. Chapter XIII

CHAPTER XIII (A): FISHERMAN HORIZON  
  
The five were done with their meals after a few minutes and are now in Headmaster Cid's office, where Squall and the others were waiting together with Cid and Edea, who were behind his desk. Entering the room, the five stood still in front of them while the three young SeeD's saluted the SeeD salute.  
  
"I'm sure you're wondering why you've been called to my office," the headmaster said after the three saluted, "Roger, Jacky, Cindy, you three were called because of your excellent SeeD capabilities and that I wish to have Squall and his party to share their experiences in dangerous situations such as yesterday's in Deling City. On the other hand, Zack and Amber, you two were already involved in yesterday's incident."  
  
"In other words, we have already planned on our next move," Edea explained.  
  
Squall then continued, "We are now heading for Fisherman Horizon. Once there, we'll take a train to Esthar."  
  
"A train?" Roger asked, "Are the railways in use again?"  
  
"Yes, just recently," Xu answered.  
  
"What do we have to do in Esthar?" Cindy asked.  
  
"We are going to borrow an airship from there," Rinoa explained, "Since we are facing Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia, we might need a fast transport in order to find them quickly."  
  
"That way, they won't have too much time to themselves," Squall continued.  
  
"Not to sound pessimistic, but I don't think time is the problem," Zack said.  
  
"I'll agree with you on that, Zack," Cid answered, "But we can't do anything until something actually happens."  
  
"I understand."  
  
Just then, sounds of gears moving suddenly sounded as the platform elevator of the control tower slowly came down from the bridge. A young SeeD was standing on it. Getting off the platform, he stood in front of everyone and saluted to them.  
  
"Sir, we're approaching Fisherman Horizon!" the boy reported.  
  
Cid nodded his head, "You may resume your post."  
  
"Yes, sir," the boy saluted again before going back to the bridge on the platform elevator.  
  
Turning his attention back to Zack and the others, Cid said, "I suppose you all have to prepare your arrival to Fishermen Horizon. Good luck."  
  
"Yes, sir," Squall announced, saluting to him.  
  
At that, the other SeeD's in his group saluted to the headmaster, as well. After that, all of them left the floor, except Cid, Edea and Xu.  
  
*********  
  
Zack and everyone else are just coming out to the second floor deck.  
  
"Roger, who was that boy earlier, the one who announced us approaching FH?" Zack asked.  
  
"Oh, that was Alex."  
  
"What was he doing at the bridge?"  
  
"He's Nida's assistant. Since Quistis and Xu are quite busy lately, Nida needed an assistant up at the bridge. Headmaster Cid personally picked Alex for that."  
  
"Is that so? Alex must be a good SeeD to be handpicked by Headmaster Cid himself."  
  
"Wait a minute. Did you just call Fisherman Horizon, 'FH'?" Roger realized.  
  
"Yes, what about it?"  
  
"That's what the people there call it, too. How did you know about? I didn't hear anyone telling you about it."  
  
Then, Zack realized his mistake, "Oh! I. I find the name. quite long, so I. I called it FH. Yeah, that's it! I called it FH as a short form. Hehe."  
  
"Is that so?" Roger said softly before looking away, towards where the port was.  
  
When he did, Zack sighed in relief, "That was a close one."  
  
"Hey there, what is it this time?"  
  
The sudden greeting surprised Zack a little, but when he turned to see who it was, it wasn't anyone special. The one who greeted them was a well- built man wearing a cap that was pulled up to his eyebrows.  
  
"He looks familiar," Zack thought, "Oh yeah, he's the guy who operates the elevator somewhere inside."  
  
While Zack was thinking to himself, Squall was explaining to the man their plan to get to Esthar.  
  
"I see. Well, you're in luck. The train to Esthar just arrived at the station, but I can't say anything about the tickets. Maybe you might still be able to get on with permission from Mayor Dobe."  
  
"Thank you for your information," Squall said, looking as solemn as he always does.  
  
"Hey, no problem. We here at FH love to help out others."  
  
After saying that, the man left the group.  
  
"Let's get going then," Irvine said, walking on the catwalk ahead of the group.  
  
However, even without him saying so, the group was already moving on.  
  
*********  
  
The young group is now waiting outside the mayor's house. Zell was playing cards with Martine. Martine still sits around outside the mayor's house. Selphie, Jacky, Cindy and Amber have gathered together at the edge of the wide steel floor, having a pleasant conversation with one and another. Irvine was laying on the floor near the four, his hat covering his face. In other words, he was having a short nap. On the other hand, Roger was busy playing with Angelo while Zack just watched them. Squall, Rinoa and Quistis were the only ones that went to talk to the mayor. After a short while, the three came out of the house.  
  
"So how'd it go?" Roger asked, standing beside Angelo.  
  
"The mayor has given us special permission to go to Esthar. However, he will only allow six of us to go," Quistis answered.  
  
"Why's that?" Zell asked, gathering his cards as he did.  
  
"Apparently, we can only use one cabin in the train, and each cabin can hold up to 6 passengers only," Rinoa explained.  
  
"If that's the case, then who's going?" Jacky asked as Selphie woke Irvine up from his nap.  
  
"I've already decided on that," Squall said, "Selphie, Jacky, Amber, Zack, Rinoa and I will be going."  
  
"Then what about the rest of us?" Irvine asked, stretching his arms out widely.  
  
"The rest of you will have to wait for us until we return. Until then, you may do as you please, but be alert. Who knows where or when Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia will appear," Squall said.  
  
"No need for warnings, Squall. We already know that," Zell said.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute. Why's Selphie going and not me?" Irvine asked, a little curious.  
  
"That must be because you can't do without my abilities! Isn't that right, Squall?" Selphie, dancing that happy dance of hers.  
  
"Actually, it is because you know how to pilot the Ragnarok," Squall explained.  
  
Selphie stopped dancing when she heard him, "You're mean."  
  
Hearing that, Rinoa laughed to herself, so did Quistis. Zack laughed, too, but less openly.  
  
"If that's why you're having Selphie in your party." Roger said, ". then why's Jacky going?"  
  
Squall was about to answer Roger's question when Rinoa answered it for him.  
  
"Jacky is from Esthar, isn't he? This is for him to visit his family and friends who are still there. Isn't that right, Squall?"  
  
Squall was surprised that her answer was exactly the same as his, but then he just smiled.  
  
"You guys have got to be going then. The train should be leaving soon," Irvine said.  
  
Squall just nodded.  
  
"See you!" Selphie exclaimed before running off ahead of the others.  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER XIII (B): JACKY'S REUNION  
  
Nothing happened along their way to Esthar. They just rested in their cabin while waiting for the time to pass. Along the way, Zack discovered that Selphie still loves riding in a train, singing her train song happily throughout their way to Esthar. Arriving the station closest to Esthar, Zack discovered something completely different.  
  
"There wasn't any road leading to Esthar in the game," Zack thought, looking at the road.  
  
Zack could tell that the road was of Esthar because of the unmistakable color and the unmistakable tube-shaped barrier along the side of the road.  
  
"Well, that's something new," Rinoa said, "I guess Esthar is more open now."  
  
"What do you mean, Rinoa?" Amber asked.  
  
"Esthar used to be a very secretive city," Jacky answered for Rinoa, "It wasn't long ago that the city itself hid from the world."  
  
"The city itself?" Amber, confused a little by that.  
  
"Esthar is a very advanced city," Selphie explained, "They had an incredible barrier around the whole city that made Esthar looked as if it wasn't even there! You know, they could've called it, the Great Barrier of Esthar!"  
  
"The Great Barrier of Esthar?" Zack thought, "Sounds almost like the Great Wall of China."  
  
Jacky laughed softly before looking at the great city, "You could say that."  
  
Looking at Jacky, Zack could not help but noticed something. Jacky seemed very happy to see Esthar.  
  
*********  
  
Besides a new road leading straight to Esthar, there was also a car service near the station where the six arrived at. From there, the six took a car straight for Esthar Presidential Palace. There was always something amazing in the great city for Amber. Zack was also amazed, although he had seen the city through the game.  
  
"They're so much more incredible than how they looked in the game," Zack thought while staring out of the car window.  
  
Arriving there, Zack and Amber were amazed by the beauty of the grand palace.  
  
"Guys, welcome to the Esthar Presidential Palace," Jacky said to the two, quite happily, Zack noticed.  
  
Just as they had entered the palace, they met up with an oddly dressed man, who seemed to be in a hurry to exit the palace. He was a short, balding man with a small moustache, wearing purple clothing and a strange, red and white, circular 'disk' around his neck.  
  
"Dr Odine?" Zack thought when he saw the man.  
  
"Pleaz, excuz me! I am in a hurry!" Dr Odine shouted before getting onto the transport saucer.  
  
Just then, another person appeared. He was wearing a red robe and a strange 'hat' that covered his eyes.  
  
"Please wait for me, sir," the man shouted.  
  
"Hurry it up! I must start ze project before any interference!" Dr Odine shouted impatiently.  
  
When the man had got on the saucer with Dr Odine, a purple semi-orb formed around the saucer before it floated out of the palace. The six were caught by surprise by Dr Odine's quick entrance and his even quicker exit.  
  
"Oh, I didn't know that we had guests in our palace. Please, forgive Dr Odine's impoliteness. He is a very impatient man and never bothers with welcoming guests."  
  
The six turned around to see the person who had appeared to greet them. He wore a bright, creamy-white robe and a 'hat' that covered his eyes. Suddenly, the man seemed to be surprised.  
  
"Jacky? Is that you?"  
  
"David?" Jacky asked, barely recognizing the man's voice.  
  
"So it is you! How have you been?"  
  
"Fine as always! But." Jacky, who was smiling widely, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"It's been so long, Jacky. A lot happened since you left Esthar."  
  
"Mind introducing your friend to us, Jacky?" Rinoa cut in.  
  
"Oh, sorry. This is my old friend, David."  
  
"How do you do?" Selphie greeted excitedly.  
  
"I'm fine. Nice to meet you all. So." David cleared his throat before continuing, "What business do you have in the Presidential Palace?"  
  
"We wish to have an audience with the President," Squall answered solemnly.  
  
"I see. Then, please, come this way," David, gesturing the group to follow him.  
  
David led the group into a small room.  
  
"Please wait while I inform the President of your wish," David said before leaving the room.  
  
It was a few minutes before David appeared again.  
  
"The President may now see you. Please hurry. The President is a very busy person."  
  
*********  
  
The group is now entering the President's room. In the room, there was a wide desk, which had a lot of unknown objects on it. Behind the desk stood the President whose back was towards the group. The President, who had long hair that was let loosely, did not wear the 'hat' but was wearing the usual robe. The President was looking at a large screen at the back of the room. There were two other people in the room. One was a thin Negro while the other was a large man. Both of them wore the usual robe and the usual 'hat' that covered their eyes.  
  
"Kiros? Ward?" Zack thought, looking at the two before looking at the President, "Laguna?"  
  
"Your guests are here," said the Negro to the President.  
  
The President just nodded before the Negro gestured David to leave the room.  
  
"So, what is your business?" the President asked before turning towards the group.  
  
Not including Amber and Jacky, the whole group was shocked. The President was a woman!  
  
"Well?" the President, who seemed to be a little impatient.  
  
"Are you really the President of Esthar?" Selphie asked, still shocked.  
  
The President was shocked, "Whatever do you mean by that? Of course, I am."  
  
"What happened to President Laguna?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"President Laguna? He recently retired," the President explained, "Look, if you have no actual business here, please leave at once. I am very busy."  
  
"Sophia? Is that you, Sophia?" Jacky suddenly asked.  
  
The President was surprised by that.  
  
"Yes, my name is Sophia. Who are you?" she asked, looking closely at him.  
  
"It's me, Jacky!"  
  
"Jacky? Is that really you?"  
  
"Yes!" Jacky answered, looking quite delighted.  
  
"Hey, have you forgotten about us then?" suddenly the Negro said.  
  
"You're." Jacky muttered, still unsure.  
  
"It's me, Vies," the Negro said before taking his 'hat' off.  
  
Vies did not have braided hair like Kiros, Zack finally noticed. Vies had very short hair with a short tail at the back of his head.  
  
"Vies!" Jacky shouted when he saw Vies's face before looking at the large man, "Then you must be Uncle Calv."  
  
Calv then took off his 'hat', revealing his face as well. Calv did not have a scar on his face like Ward did and was balding.  
  
"Long time no see," he greeted.  
  
"I guess he's definitely not Ward," Zack thought, remembering Ward had already lost his voice and could not speak.  
  
"Then, what happened to Kiros and Ward?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"They retired at the same time Laguna did," Vies answered.  
  
"I see. You had expected to see the former President, Laguna and his two assistants, Kiros and Ward. However, they have already left for the town of Winhill several days ago," Calv explained.  
  
"Is that so.?" Rinoa muttered, a little surprised by the news.  
  
"It doesn't matter. Our purpose here concerns only the Esthar President, no matter who he or she may be," Squall explained solemnly.  
  
"I see. So, like before, what is your business here?" President Sophia asked the group.  
  
"We wish to borrow your aircraft, Ragnarok," Rinoa explained.  
  
"The Ragnarok?" Vies, surprised at their request.  
  
"I am very sorry but, when Laguna, Kiros and Ward left, the Ragnarok left with them," Sophia explained.  
  
"They took the Ragnarok?" Squall, who did not expected that.  
  
"I'm afraid so," Sophia answered.  
  
"Then, can we borrow any of your other aircrafts?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Sorry, but we cannot borrow any of our aircrafts for the time being," Calv answered, "All of them are needed for our project of rebuilding the space station that was destroyed not long ago."  
  
"He must be talking about when the Lunar Cry happened," Zack thought.  
  
"You're rebuilding the space station?" Selphie asked.  
  
"Yes," Calv answered, "One of our research professors, Dr Odine, plans on having a research of our moon, Lunar."  
  
Hearing that, Squall frowned, "I guess we do have to meet with Laguna and the others."  
  
"I apologize for the inconvenience," Sophia said, "After all, you did come all this way to meet me and yet not get the result you had hoped for."  
  
"It's all right, President Sophia," Rinoa explained, "Squall may sound. unhappy about it, but really, he doesn't mind it."  
  
"Is that so? Then it brings relief to me," Sophia said.  
  
Squall only sighed at Rinoa's explanation.  
  
"So, is there anything else you want?" Sophia continued.  
  
"No, that is all. Since you're busy, we shall leave you now, President Sophia," Rinoa said.  
  
"Oh no, please. I know you have no more business here, but please, stay a little longer. I really wish to talk with Jacky. It's been years since he left Esthar. And he has to meet with his family again, too," Sophia said.  
  
"Of course we will," Rinoa explained, "Our reason for being here was to borrow the Ragnarok and for Jacky to revisit his family and friends."  
  
"Is that so?" Sophia asked.  
  
Without saying a word, Squall just nodded.  
  
Sophia smiled gladly, "Oh, thank you. I am very relieved to hear that. Jacky, make sure that you see Mother, all right? I'm sure she'll be very happy to see you."  
  
Jacky nodded, smiling happily.  
  
"I'll be with you later, after I am done with my work here," Sophia continued, "Vies, why don't you go ahead and bring Jacky to where Mother is? Oh, and come over here, Vies."  
  
Sophia gestured Vies with her hands to come closer. Vies followed as Sophia whispered quietly into his ears.  
  
"Don't tell Jacky that he has returned, all right?"  
  
"All right, it'll be my pleasure," Vies exclaimed before turning to the group, "Let's go then, shall we?"  
  
With that, the young group left the room with Vies. Halfway along the long hallway, Selphie suddenly stopped in front of the group.  
  
"Jacky, mind to tell us your relationship with the President and her assistants?" Selphie said as the group went to a stop.  
  
"Oh, sorry that I didn't introduce you all to them properly."  
  
"It's all right," Rinoa said, "We understand how you feel, meeting a friend after years of being apart."  
  
Jacky smiled happily when she said that.  
  
"If that is what you want, let me introduce myself first," Vies cut in, "As you all should know already, I am Vies, Vies Keynos. I have been Jacky's friend since childhood. I am very, very pleased to meet you all."  
  
"Well, that answers one part of Selphie's question," Jacky said, "Uncle Calv is. well, my uncle. He is my father's elder brother. Sophia is my elder sister and also the eldest in my family."  
  
"The President is your sister?" Amber, who was amazed by that.  
  
"Yes, I was surprised myself," Jacky explained.  
  
"It wasn't only you," Squall said under his breath, barely heard by anyone, except Rinoa, who laughed to herself when she did.  
  
"Um, would you mind if I. go and meet with my family?" Jacky asked.  
  
"Of course not," Rinoa answered, "We'll be back here around sunset. Take your time til then."  
  
"Thank you," Jacky said before leaving the group with Vies. 


	15. Chapter XIV

CHAPTER XIV: A CHILDHOOD THAT WASN'T  
  
It has been an hour since Zack, Amber, Squall, Rinoa and Selphie left the palace. Since then, they did not have much to do but wander around the futuristic city. The group is now walking along the pathway, which was laid along the large glass tube that was for the usage of the transport saucers. On the glass tube, wrote "Left Side" and "Right Side" with the Esthar logo in between.  
  
"This must be the pathway that stretches across Esthar from the left side to the right," Zack thought, remembering the same scenery from the game.  
  
As they continued walking along the pathway, they were met up by Vies.  
  
"So, there you are! It wasn't easy, trying to find you all in this large city," Vies first greeted to the group.  
  
"That leaves the question. How did you find us?" Selphie asked.  
  
Vies laughed before answering, "Coincidence, I guess. Would you like me to give you a tour of this city?"  
  
"No thank you. We know our way around," Squall answered.  
  
"Oh, don't be so rude, Squall," Rinoa said before turning back to Vies, "Why don't you give Zack and Amber a tour of the city? They're not. quite familiar of it."  
  
"All right," Vies answered, "But then what about you three?"  
  
"Don't worry, we'll just be around," Rinoa explained.  
  
Just then, Selphie declined, "Neh, I think I'll join Zack and Amber. You two just spend some time alone. Come on, let's go!"  
  
Selphie ran ahead of Zack, Amber and Vies, leaving Squall and Rinoa alone.  
  
Squall sighed, "She'll never change, won't she?"  
  
Hearing that, Rinoa giggled to herself.  
  
*********  
  
A while has passed. Vies is still showing Zack and Amber around the city. While following them, Selphie was feeling bored, walking around playfully, trying to just entertain herself.  
  
"Vies?" Zack suddenly spoke.  
  
"Yes, do you have a question?"  
  
"Vies, you were Jacky's childhood friend, right?" Zack asked.  
  
"Yes, I was."  
  
"Do you mind telling me about his childhood?" Zack continued.  
  
"Why-Why do you ask?" Vies, surprised by the question.  
  
"When we arrived here, Jacky seemed to be. quite happy," Zack explained, "As if he thought he would never come back here again."  
  
"Is that so.?" Vies muttered softly to himself before he smiled to Zack, "So, you want to know how Jacky's past was?"  
  
Zack nodded.  
  
"Well, it's a long story, but we've got time. I'll tell you one thing, Jacky's childhood wasn't like any others. When he was still young, if I'm not mistaken, around 4 years old, it wasn't about passing the school examinations or trying to get some time to play with his friends. It was absolutely different. It was all about training and doing his tasks correctly," Vies explained.  
  
"Training? Tasks? At the age of 4?" Amber, who was surprised along with Zack, as well.  
  
Vies nodded solemnly.  
  
"I remember hearing about that from Headmaster Cid," Selphie cut in, "It was at the time when Esthar was still ruled by Sorceress Adel. She wanted to acknowledge the strengths of forces outside Esthar to maintain her own security from the world. To do so, she took children that were old enough to talk and walk from their families and force them to train to become spies."  
  
"Train them to be spies?" Zack gasped.  
  
Zack had played Final Fantasy VIII several times, over and over, from the start til the end, but he had never heard of that part of Sorceress Adel's past. Zack had always thought that Sorceress Adel only looked for children to be her heir, but it seems that there's more to the story than he thought.  
  
"Besides Jacky, a lot of us had experienced Sorceress Adel's terror," Vies continued.  
  
"You, too?" Amber muttered.  
  
"David and Sophia, as well," Vies continued, recalling his past, "However, amongst us all, Jacky was the best. He quickly absorbed the training given to him, despite his age."  
  
"Why was that?" Amber asked.  
  
"He understood what would happened if he didn't? Sophia couldn't withstand the training and failed a lot of the training tasks given to her. Many times had the sorceress threatened to execute Jacky's parents if she continued to fail, but no matter what, Sophia was never suited to be a spy. Then, it wasn't long before Jacky's turn came when he would be trained. At first, he couldn't stand the training as well, but then, when Sorceress Adel said that if he failed the next training task, his parents and Sophia would be executed. Despite the heavy pressure, Jacky passed that task, though barely," Vies recalled.  
  
"Vies, since you were also one of those children, how do you know about all this?" Zack asked.  
  
"Uncle Calv was one of Sorceress Adel's prime ministers. He told us some of the events that we never understood when we were young. However, even at such a young age, if you were to experience such terror, you can never forget it," Vies explained, "When Sophia was chosen to be the new President of Esthar and Uncle Calv and I to be her assistants, we sometimes look back to the past, to remember how terrible it was and always remind ourselves never to do the same as Sorceress Adel did."  
  
"I see," Zack muttered softly.  
  
Vies then continued, "Few years after saving his family from execution, Jacky was declared the youngest spy to be sent out on an actual mission. At that time, he was only 7.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: JACKY'S PAST - PART 1  
  
Several years ago, while Sorceress Adel still ruled Esthar, she had a throne room. When the sorceress had fallen, her throne room was turned into the Esthar President's office, like how it is in the present. The event of Jacky's ordeal happened when Sorceress Adel still ruled.  
  
In the throne room of the Esthar Presidential Palace, surrounded by several ministers, Sorceress Adel is sitting on her throne, her eyes as piercing red as always and her smile as devilish as everyone recognized it to be. She was patiently waiting for her newest spy recruits. Just then, the door of her throne room opened widely, revealing two young children, wearing the Esthar uniforms. Their hair were neatly cut and their faces showed extreme seriousness that should not have been for children of their age. When the door was opened widely, the two children walked several paces into the room before kneeling down in respect of the powerful sorceress, who smiled devilishly with delight.  
  
"Excellent, amongst many of the children, you two have been the best amongst them. for the time being. While others had failed in some of our practices, you two had been able to succeed," the sorceress said.  
  
Staring piercingly at the boy on the right, Sorceress Adel said, "Vies Keynos, you've gone through 5 years of my training before being able to come here and kneel before me. Being at the age of 9, I am impressed by your progress."  
  
"But, there is another that impresses me even more," the sorceress continued before turning her attention to the other boy, "Jacky Cage, your elder sister had not been very successful in her training. I had actually planned for your family's execution, but then, you proofed to be more worthy than your sister will ever be. And thus, your family stayed away from death. Being only 7, you have indeed shown abilities that were beyond the others and had truthfully earned the right to be the youngest spy in Esthar. I am especially intrigued by you."  
  
Holding his hate against Sorceress Adel, Jacky just glared angrily at her. Noticing that, Sorceress Adel just laughed softly.  
  
"Don't hold your grudge against me, Jacky. I do understand you despising me, but do you think it will be healthy for you?"  
  
Understanding what she meant, Jacky just closed his eyes and faced down. Seeing that, the sorceress laughed softly but triumphantly as one of the ministers could not help but feel sorry for the boy.  
  
"Minister Calv!" suddenly Sorceress Adel called.  
  
Surprised, the minister shook himself from his pity and stepped forward.  
  
"Yes, Sorceress Adel."  
  
"Brief them on their mission."  
  
"Yes, your Highness," the minister said before turning to the two, "Both of you will be sent to infiltrate the Galbadian forces in the city of Deling to retrieve information of their military and political strengths. However, caution is a priority. The Galbadian forces will not tolerate enemy spies. That is all."  
  
"Now, go," the sorceress announced.  
  
"Yes, your Highness!" David exclaimed before standing and slowly walking towards the door.  
  
Jacky was still kneeling down. Surprised by that, the ministers in the throne room began whispers amongst themselves as David stopped and turned to look at Jacky. Besides the ministers, Calv was also surprised while Sorceress Adel just stared suspiciously at the boy.  
  
"What seems to be the matter?" Calv asked nervously at the boy, who was still kneeling down.  
  
Responding to his question, Jacky looked up towards the throne, right at Sorceress Adel.  
  
"I have a wish, Sorceress Adel," Jacky finally spoke up while standing up.  
  
Amused by the boy, the sorceress continued to stare at him.  
  
"After I'm done with my mission, can you make my wish come true?" Jacky continued.  
  
"What may your wish be?" Sorceress Adel asked calmly.  
  
"Stop training everyone to be spies!" Jacky answered bravely.  
  
While Sorceress Adel continued staring calmly at Jacky, everyone in the room was surprised by Jacky's wish as the ministers continued on with their whispers.  
  
"Sorry, but I won't," the sorceress answered, "Your accomplishments are not worth that wish, which has a much higher price."  
  
Though turned down, Jacky continued staring bravely at the sorceress.  
  
"What are you doing, Jacky?" David said softly under his breath while staring in awe at Jacky's bravery.  
  
"But I understand you," Sorceress Adel suddenly continued, "I know you won't take 'no' for an answer. So, I'll grant another wish for you."  
  
When she said that, the room immediately went silent as the brave Jacky continued staring at her.  
  
"If you successfully return from your mission, I shall grant freedom to your sister and your family," Sorceress Adel said.  
  
The room stayed silent as shock went through everyone, except Jacky.  
  
"And my friends as well," Jacky continued.  
  
"Agreed, but you shall pay the price of choosing only some and not all," Sorceress Adel said.  
  
"Fine," Jacky answered before turning around and walking towards the door. Walking pass the shocked David, Jacky exited the room. David quickly chased after him when he did. When the door was closed, one of the ministers suddenly stepped forward.  
  
"Your Highness, why did you grant the boy's wish?" the minister asked.  
  
"Galbadia is known for their tight security of their military and political information. For the child, it won't be easy to succeed," Sorceress Adel explained, "Besides, did you not hear me? I said that he was worth more than his sister will ever be. I do not wish to bother with his sister or his family any longer."  
  
"Then, what about his friends?" another minister suddenly spoke.  
  
"That is a price he will pay, not me," Sorceress Adel explained.  
  
"What do you mean?" Calv asked, confused.  
  
The sorceress laughed softly to herself before continuing, "I gave him freedom to choose only some of his friends. Choosing only some meant sacrificing the rest. I am curious at how he will handle such dilemma."  
  
*********  
  
Months has passed since that day, Jacky and Vies are now running exhaustingly on the streets of Deling City, in Jacky's hands was a small bag. They were running away from the Galbadian soldiers, who were chasing after them. As they were running, Vies suddenly saw a dark narrow alley and pulled Jacky towards it. Hiding against the walls of the alley, the two panted heavily. Just then, they heard the soldiers coming and covered their mouths and lessened their breathing. The group of soldiers ran passed the alley without any thought about it. When the group disappeared, only two stood outside the alley.  
  
"I can't believe this!" suddenly one of the soldier exclaimed, "Galbadia's most well-kept information, all stolen by a couple of children! Who knows what else they've found?"  
  
"No point complaining. Let's just keep looking for them," the other said before the two ran off.  
  
When they disappeared, Jacky and Vies immediately dropped their hand down and continued panting heavily.  
  
Breathing heavily, Vies looks at Jacky, "Let's. Let's get going."  
  
Jacky nodded before the two went deeper into the alley. A while later, the two came to the end of the alley and ran for the train station. At the station, a train was ready to leave for Fisherman Horizon. An announcement was made saying that the train will be leaving in a few moment. Just then, Jacky and Vies appeared. At that point, they felt extreme relief in them.  
  
"Let's go!" Vies shouted, smiling widely at Jacky.  
  
However, their relief soon disappeared when suddenly they heard from behind, "There they are!"  
  
The soldiers have found them again and were running towards them now.  
  
"Get back to Esthar, Jacky!" Vies shouted.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I'll distract them. You get back to Esthar."  
  
"But what about you?" Jacky asked, confused.  
  
"Don't worry about me. After all, you're the one who has a wish to fulfill."  
  
Jacky was shocked by that.  
  
"Now go!!" Vies shouted before pushing Jacky into the train.  
  
Jacky fell into the train, the bag falling from his hand onto the steel- plated floor as the door slid shut.  
  
"Vies!" Jacky shouted, getting up and looking out the small window of the slide door.  
  
Vies waved at him for a while before he looked at the soldiers and tried to escape. Just as the train went out of the station, Jacky saw the soldiers surround Vies and forcing him to the floor.  
  
"Vies!!!" Jacky screamed when the train exited the station.  
  
Still leaning against the steel door, Jacky clenched his right fist and slammed it onto the door before dropping to the floor and curling himself up into a ball. He cried uncontrollably as the train continued on its trip.  
  
*********  
  
Hours later, Jacky has arrived at Esthar and is now walking into the throne room where Sorceress Adel was sitting on the throne. She seemed to have been waiting for him, smiling devilishly at Jacky as he entered the room.  
  
"I see that you have return a success?" the sorceress said.  
  
Jacky glared up at her angrily as he lifted the small bag in his hands. Seeing the bag, Sorceress Adel smiled even wider.  
  
"So, what happened to the other?" she asked.  
  
Jacky just scowled as the sorceress laughed triumphantly.  
  
"You are pathetic! I knew you would experience such sadness, but I never thought that it would be this sweet to see that!" the powerful sorceress laughed.  
  
Hearing her laugh, Jacky struggled hard not to lose to his hatred and exclaimed, "Now release my family! And my friends!"  
  
Sorceress Adel continued laughing for a moment.  
  
"And you still wish for more. As you wish. Choose who will be free and who will not," the sorceress laughed again.  
  
Never predicting it, Jacky was tortured emotionally once more. As he chose some to be freed, others desperately begged him to choose them. It was such a horrible feeling to free some but sacrifice others. Jacky couldn't bear with it since he was still young. What was even worse, Sorceress Adel was there to enjoy his pain.  
  
*********  
  
Jacky is now on a balcony of the grand palace, looking at the view of the great city. Though a month had passed since he came back to Esthar, he still can feel the emotionally pain he suffered when Vies was caught and also when he could only free some while sacrificing the rest of his friends. Besides the feeling of suffering, Jacky also felt another feeling, the feeling of hatred for the sorceress. Since he could remember, he had always hated the sorceress, but he felt even worse knowing how he couldn't do anything about her.  
  
"Jacky?" suddenly a voice from behind him.  
  
Jacky turned around to see who it was. There, standing at the wide door, was Calv, his face full of concern. However, Jacky just ignored it and looked back at the city. Seeing the sadness in the boy, Calv walked up to him.  
  
"Jacky?" Calv muttered again, but still the boy ignored him.  
  
"I know how you must feel about me," Calv said, "I am the Prime Minister of Esthar and at the same time, the brother of your father. Yet. I am not doing anything to help you or your family."  
  
Though he heard his words clearly, Jacky just closed his eyes, trying to ignore them.  
  
"You've grown so much, yet, you're only seven. I am in extreme amazement," Calv said clearly, though softly.  
  
This time, Jacky's stubbornness was slowly disappearing as he opened his eyes.  
  
"You may hate me if you want, but I'll always be your uncle, an uncle who would try anything to help his nephew."  
  
Done, Calv turned to leave Jacky alone when suddenly, Jacky spun around.  
  
"Let me go and save Vies!" Jacky quickly exclaimed.  
  
Surprised, Calv looked at the boy, "What?"  
  
"Let me go and save Vies," Jacky said, softly but confidently.  
  
"But. but." Calv, who was speechless.  
  
"Just let me go! I have to save Vies!" Jacky said, almost in the brink of crying as tears were starting to form in his eyes.  
  
Calv was silent. He didn't know what to say. He knew Jacky would go anyway even if he said no, but he also knew that it wouldn't be safe for him if he did go.  
  
"No!" Calv finally answered.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's too dangerous. Vies should be in the Desert Prison. It will be too dangerous for you to save him from there," Calv explained.  
  
"I don't care! I want to save Vies!" Jacky screamed.  
  
Silence settled on the two as Jacky stared right into his uncle's eyes. Although Jacky was still young, Calv could see in his eyes, a determined soul that was abnormal to have already taken form inside a young body.  
  
Finally giving in, Calv answered, "All right. Go ahead."  
  
Hearing that, Jacky's stern face quickly turned relief as he collapsed into Calv's arms, surprising him a little.  
  
"Thank you. Uncle." Jacky said under his breath, smiling in relief.  
  
Though it was soft, Calv could hear him clearly and smiled happily. However, in the throne room, Sorceress Adel, who was sitting calmly on her throne, finally opened her red piercing eyes. She smiled widely as if she has succeeded once more.  
  
"I knew he would plan for that sooner or later," the sorceress laughed softly, "He is so predictable." 


	16. Chapter XV

CHAPTER XV: MORE OF THE PAST  
  
Jacky is entering a large hall somewhere in the palace, together with David, who was still wearing a robe. In the hall, a large chandelier shone brightly in the middle of the hall. Under the chandelier were several people, most of them Jacky barely recognized.  
  
"Jacky! Welcome back!" suddenly a boy around his age jumped and hugged Jacky.  
  
"Jien," Jacky muttered, recognizing Jien's behavior to jump and hug people as a greeting.  
  
"Welcome back," another boy said calmly, stretching his hand to Jacky.  
  
"Benjamin," Jacky, recognizing Benjamin's face as he shook his hand.  
  
Just then, Calv appeared.  
  
"I'm sure you can't forget who she is," Calv said before bringing a woman in her early forties out from the crowd of people.  
  
"Mother!" Jacky cried happily when he saw her.  
  
"Jacky," she muttered, opening her arms to Jacky as he gave her a warm hug.  
  
"Mother, I missed you so much."  
  
"Hush, my child. I missed you as well," she whispered softly but sweetly to Jacky.  
  
Hugging his mother closely, Jacky couldn't help but snivel as tears started to form in his eyes.  
  
"And there's someone else who wants to see you, Jacky," Sophia said, standing near the two, "He missed you very much over the years."  
  
Sniveling while wiping off a tear from his right eye, Jacky answered, "Who is it?"  
  
Sophia smiled, "I'm sure you've missed him just as much."  
  
Then, Sophia stood aside together with the people behind her as they revealed a man in his late forties. Jacky's eyes opened widely and his jaws dropped when he saw the man.  
  
"F-Father?"  
  
The man just smiled while looking at him.  
  
"Father!" Jacky cried before running towards the man.  
  
The man opened his arms and hugged Jacky.  
  
"It has been so many years," the man whispered before a tear rolled from under his eye, "I thought I might not have been able to see you again."  
  
Sniveling softly, Jacky was quiet. Tears were rolling from both of his eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: JACKY'S PAST - PART 2  
  
Jacky has left Esthar again on another mission. Calv have found out from the secret information, brought back by Jacky from the Galbadian, that they were producing a secret and powerful weapon. Calv appealed to Sorceress Adel to send Jacky to Deling City to stop the production. Strangely, she agreed quite willingly. However in reality, Jacky was heading for the Desert Prison, which was located closest to Deling City. Being the only one to have read the secret information, Calv lied about the secret weapon.  
  
In Deling City, security has been tighten. Soldiers were guarding every corner in the city. However, their security was still imperfect. Jacky was still able to sneak through their security without being noticed. Arriving at the car lot, Jacky hears one of the Galbadian jeeps roaring its engine. Inside the jeep was a blue-uniformed soldier, sitting at the driver's seat and there was a red-uniformed soldier, entering the jeep and sitting on the passenger's seat.  
  
"Why do you always have to make us late to get back to our post?" the blue soldier said.  
  
"Oh, there's still half an hour before our shifts," the red soldier answered.  
  
"Have you forgotten how far the Desert Prison is from here?" the blue soldier questioned.  
  
"Oh, just hit the petal! Is not like there's traffic!" the red soldier responded.  
  
"Then, what about the monsters we might encounter?"  
  
"They're easy enough. Let's just go!"  
  
At that, the jeep started moving. Overhearing their conversation, Jacky rushed to jump into the back of the jeep. Luckily for him, the roar of the jeeps engine was too noisy for the two soldiers in front to hear Jacky. As Jacky hid himself in the rags at the back of the jeep, it continued moving on, going off the tarred road of Deling City and onto the dirt road of the plain, heading for the Desert Prison.  
  
*********  
  
It didn't take long before Jacky was a few distances from the Desert Prison. Peeping from under the rags, Jacky finally got to see the Desert Prison for the first time. It looked like three slightly leaning towers connected to each other by bridges from one tower to the other. The stranger thing about the towers was that they looked like giant drills. Suddenly, the jeep stopped and the red soldier at the passenger's seat started up a radio transmission.  
  
"Jeep 31, reporting to Desert Tower. Do you read me?"  
  
Then, there was a return answer, "Yes, this is the Desert Tower. We read you. We're coming down."  
  
"This is the part I hate," the blue soldier at the passenger seat said.  
  
"Just hold your breath," the other soldier responded.  
  
At that, both of them gulped breaths of air and held them. Jacky was confused by that when he heard echoes of moving gears. Jacky looked towards the Desert Prison where the echoes came from. Jacky was surprised when he saw the drill parts of the towers slowly spinning round and round, going faster and faster and causing a wide, rough sandstorm as they did. Jacky gasped a quick breath of air and held it as he hid himself under the rag from the spray of sand.  
  
Though it was only for a short while, it seemed like minutes to Jacky as he slowly grew his urge to take another breath of air. Suddenly, the jerk of the jeep moving shook Jacky off balance, causing him to fall onto the steel bottom of the jeep. Luckily, the jeep's engine was still too noisy for the two soldiers to hear Jacky's crash. Getting back up, Jacky looked from under the rags at where the towers were. He was shocked again when he didn't see them.  
  
"Where's the prison?" he thought.  
  
Just then, as the jeep continued on a short distance, Jacky saw the towers again, only that they were shorter and weren't towers. They were like normal buildings now!  
  
"What the.?"  
  
Just then, a ramp door slowly opened and laid down in front of the jeep. The jeep slowly got up the ramp and into the building as the ramp door slowly lifted and closed. Inside, the blue soldier drove the jeep and parked it at the end of a line of parked jeeps. Killing the jeep's engine, the two soldiers got off the jeep.  
  
"Now then, let's get going," the red soldier exclaimed before the two left the room.  
  
There was silence for a short while before Jacky took a peep through the rags. Seeing no one else in the room, he tossed the rags aside and jumped off the jeep. He ran to the room's only door and took a tiny peep through the side of it. The door led to a narrow corridor, which led to another room. The room was wide and circular, like a room under a dorm would. Lined up against the walls of the room were a lot of machines, which had countless bright, colorful buttons and switches and some monitors here and there. Unfortunately, there was a soldier in the room. This soldier was wearing a red uniform and was operating some of the machines, pushing buttons and flipping switches. Just then, Jacky's and the soldier's attentions were taken when a voice from somewhere called out.  
  
"Hey, don't forget to bring us back up!"  
  
"Oh, sorry, I forgot again!" the soldier in the room shouted back before he pushed a button.  
  
As if responding to the button, the whole place started trembling strongly as Jacky held onto the wall for support. As he held himself against the wall, Jacky could feel in his body that the whole place was going up, just like how one feels when in an elevator going up a few floors of a building. The trembling lasted for a short while before it finally stopped. Regaining his balance, Jacky peeped through the door again. The solider didn't seem to have been disturbed by the strong tremor just now as he was still pushing buttons and flipping switches.  
  
Just then, the voice from before called out again, "Hey, I think you had better check the transport cable thingy!"  
  
The soldier sighed tiresomely as he answered, "It's the Prison Cell Transport Cable! And why do you think so?"  
  
"We need to bring one of the cells to the top, where the Head Warden's waiting, but it isn't responding."  
  
The soldier sighed again before leaving the room, "Why aren't you guys good at mechanics?"  
  
"Bring a cell to the top?" Jacky thought, surprised, "Oh, yeah. Uncle Calv told me about it already."  
  
Before Jacky left Esthar, Calv had explained to him that the Desert Prison wasn't like any other prison. The prison cells were transportable and can be brought to the top of the prison tower, to the torture room of the tower.  
  
With no one else in the room, Jacky walked quietly into the room. In the room, there were two more doors. One seemed to lead outside onto a catwalk and another, where the soldier exited through, led deeper into the prison. Jacky constantly looked at the doors to see if anyone might come in suddenly. Certain that no one would, he checked out the monitors on the machines. Jacky took a while to see all of the monitors, but none of them seemed to be surveillance of the prison cells. Now he had no choice but to search for Vies himself in the three towers. He then exited the room through the same door the soldier did, entering into another circular room but this room had no machinery. In the middle of room was a wide, empty and fenced space. Through it, Jacky could see more than a dozen floors of cells along with some soldiers patrolling the floor. Just then, he heard a voice.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with the Prison Cell Transport Cable! Are you sure you operated the machine correctly?"  
  
It was the soldier from before. His voice seemed to be coming through a voice transmitter from somewhere in the room.  
  
"Of course, I'm not dumb!" the other soldier answered.  
  
Hearing the voices clearly now, Jacky turned to see a steel door in the room. He went to lean against the door to try and eavesdrop on the conversation.  
  
"Which cell does the Head want?" the transmitted voice cracked.  
  
"Cell 76. The cell with the black kid," the earlier voice that Jacky heard answered.  
  
"Vies?" Jacky thought.  
  
"Enter the cell number into the machine and press the red button," the transmitted voice sounded again.  
  
"Why?" the normal voice asked.  
  
"Just do it!"  
  
"Ok, ok, fine."  
  
There was a short silence when Jacky heard a loud siren, followed by noisy gears operating.  
  
"Hey, the machine's working!" the normal voice exclaimed.  
  
"Ah, you wasted my time!" the transmitted voice cracked again.  
  
"Sorry for the mistake."  
  
"Vies is going to the torture room!?" Jacky thought.  
  
"Don't make the same mistake again," suddenly Jacky heard another voice behind the room.  
  
This voice was a calm but hoarse as well.  
  
"I apologize for my mistake, Head Warden."  
  
"Just make sure it doesn't happen again."  
  
Just then, Jacky could hear gears moving a lot noisier now. He looked over the fence through the empty space in the tower. He was surprised. What wasn't there before was a large steel container. The container came higher and higher, closer and closer to where Jacky was and at last, stopped right in front of him. Gears continued to operate before stopping as the container connected itself onto the side of the wall, into the room where the Head Warden was.  
  
*********  
  
Trying to take a nap, Vies is laying on the uncomfortable wooden bed. However, he couldn't even let his mind to rest because of his hunger. The gastric in his stomach was restless. It was unbearable, especially for a child. He has grown skinnier than when he came to the prison. The wardens of the prison had agreed that he was too young and weak to be torture with the electric wall, so they thought of not giving him food or water for four days in a row. However, at the end of the four days, they will give him some. They didn't want Vies to die without telling them who he was working for. However, the food given to Vies wasn't actually delicious, it was more like a plate of slurpy yellow gunk. Vies can't even tell what were the ingredients for it. Nonetheless, it was still food and it wouldn't do Vies any good to be picky about his food.  
  
It has been three days since Vies last ate. He can't even tell which was more torturing, not eating for four days or eating their gunk. Just then, suddenly his cell shook hard, throwing Vies off the bed and onto the steel floor. Vies landed painfully on the floor as the gastric in his stomach really kicked in. Hugging his stomach, trying to calm the pain, Vies could feel the whole cell moving. He has experienced this before. The Head Warden constantly checks on Vies every three days of his torture, trying to force some information out of him.  
  
After a while, still laying on the floor, hugging his stomach, his cell suddenly stopped with a jerk, tossing Vies off the floor by an inch and then back down. The noisy gears constantly disturbed Vies. Because of his hunger, the noise seemed to echo in his ears a lot noisier than it really was. Just then, the door to his cell slid opened and a man, wearing the usual brown warden's uniform, walked in.  
  
"Get up! The Head Warden wants you!"  
  
Vies smiled, laughing a little to himself. Although he had been terribly weaken by hunger, he still kept his calmness and confidence.  
  
"Shut up, why else would I be brought up here?"  
  
The warden was surprised with disgust.  
  
"Man, who trained you? Even after all that we've done, you're still so confident," the warden whispered to himself, "The person who trained you must be a powerful fellow."  
  
Vies laughed softly, "You have no idea."  
  
Vies slowly lifted himself off the floor. Standing upright, it was easy to tell that he was struggling to stay standing. He slowly walked pass the warden into the room. In the room, he could see another man, standing next to the electric wall. The man was also wearing the same brown uniform and looked identical with the other warden. The only difference between the two was that this one had a moustache. Vies was forced onto a chair by the warden behind him. Since he was weak, the Head Warden thought that it wasn't necessary to bind him to the chair during the negotiation.  
  
"Have you finally decided to cooperate with us and tell us what you know?" the Head Warden asked.  
  
"Yes, I'll tell you what I know," Vies answered weakly, his head facing down.  
  
The warden was surprised by his answer after just seeing his confidence as the Head Warden was feeling a little excited by the success achieved finally.  
  
"Then say it," the Head Warden said softly as if kindly.  
  
Vies looked up at the Head Warden, "There's a black coffee stain under your nose. Oh wait, that's your moustache. Sorry."  
  
Both the Head Warden and the warden were dumbfounded. They had just been toyed by a 9-year-old. Out of anger, the Head Warden slapped Vies hard, throwing him off the chair. Weakly laying on the floor, Vies could feel the gastric working again in his stomach. The Head Warden walked over and squatted next to the boy.  
  
"You're driving my patience, kid. And I don't think you would like to continue on."  
  
Despite the pain, Vies laughed softly, "What if I said I will?"  
  
Angered even more, the Head Warden stood up and kicked the child's stomach. Vies flew across the floor. When he stopped rolling, the pain in his stomach really tortured him. The Head Warden just stood still, breathing hard. Anger was still visible in his eyes. Just then, he turned towards the door.  
  
"Let's leave him alone for a while. I need to take a breather."  
  
"But sir, what about.?"  
  
"Don't worry, he's too weak to go anywhere," the Head Warden answered before exiting the room.  
  
The warden then followed suit, leaving the boy to his suffering.  
  
*********  
  
Overhearing what the Head Warden said, Jacky immediately moved aside, to the corner between the door and the wall. The door then slid opened as a moustache man walked out. A moment later, another man followed him. Both of them wore brown uniform and both of them didn't notice Jacky. Knowing that no one else was in the room, except Vies, Jacky quickly entered the room where he saw Vies laying on the floor, hugging his stomach.  
  
"Vies!" Jacky cried, rushing over to him.  
  
"J-Jacky?" Vies muttered in surprise, "W-What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm here to save you," Jacky answered, "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, sort of." Vies answered weakly.  
  
"Let me help you up," Jacky said.  
  
Jacky slowly lifted Vies up to his feet. Putting his arm around Jacky's shoulder, Jacky slowly carried Vies to the door.  
  
Just then, a man appeared at the door. It was the warden.  
  
"I think I better stay, just in case," he whispered to himself before he saw the two, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing?"  
  
Jacky was shocked. He never expected that to happen.  
  
"Trying to escape, eh? Well, that won't be easy!" the warden said as he pulled out his baton.  
  
"Oh, yeah?" suddenly a calm and familiar voice from behind Jacky and Vies said before a blast sent the warden flying out of the room.  
  
Surprised, Jacky and Vies turned around to see a dark, tall shadow looming over them. The shadow slowly took form of a human. It was Sorceress Adel!  
  
"You're still young and naïve," the sorceress said calmly, "I wouldn't want you to end your life here."  
  
Just then, a light surrounded the three before they disappeared. 


	17. Chapter XVI

CHAPTER XVI (A): EVEN MORE OF THE PAST  
  
Vies was still telling Zack, Amber and Selphie about Jacky's past.  
  
"Wow." Amber muttered, "So much happened?"  
  
Vies let out a sigh of grief, "Yeah. So much."  
  
Zack was in shock and at the same time, disbelief. He was shocked by how Jacky's past was and he could barely believe that it was when he was only 7.  
  
"How far did Sorceress Adel lead the children off the path of normality?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: JACKY'S PAST - PART 3  
  
Jacky was now in one of the large rooms in the Esthar Presidential Palace. He was sitting quietly and lonely on one of the couches in the room. Sorceress Adel had teleported him and Vies back to Esthar. Once there, Vies was brought to a doctor to have a health check-up and some treatments for his injuries. Although knowing how much Vies suffered when he was in the prison, Sorceress Adel was going to drop a punishment unto him after his recovery. The punishment for being caught by the enemy was to return to the basics of Sorceress Adel's training, but since Vies didn't reveal anything about Esthar to the Galbadian, his punishment was lightened to only accomplishing some of the most difficult training tasks.  
  
Jacky, however, won't be that fortunate to have his punishment lightened for trying to lie to the sorceress. Although the sorceress has yet to reveal his punishment, an indirect punishment seemed to have been dropped on him. As he was sitting quietly, his mind was constantly thinking through the possibilities of what the punishment may be. Although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, it was easy to see that fear has swallowed the boy. His friends may have to return to training. Sophia might be forced to as well. Or if it was worse, his parents may be executed. Jacky just could not bear to think about all this.  
  
Just then, the only door in the room slid opened. Two Esthar soldiers slipped through and stood at the side of it after roughly shoving the bare- bodied Calv in. To Jacky's shock, Calv's body was covered with bruises and there were a few wounds here and there.  
  
"Uncle Calv!"  
  
Jacky wanted to go to his uncle but froze when he noticed the two red eyes piercing through him from the door. The figure of the sorceress slowly showed its form as she walked in. She smiled her devilish smile widely as she looked at Calv, who was kneeling on the floor weakly.  
  
"This is his punishment for trying to lie to me," the sorceress said.  
  
Though it was meant to be in disgust, she said it as if it was pleasure. And with that, Jacky was the one who was in disgust.  
  
"What do you want?" he cried.  
  
Hearing that, her eyes pierced through him, frightening the little boy.  
  
"It seems that I have you tight in my grasp," the sorceress said before softly laughing to herself.  
  
Jacky had nothing to say. Fear was going into him through Sorceress Adel's eyes.  
  
"Your punishment." Sorceress Adel suddenly spoke, ".shall be exile."  
  
Jacky was shocked at that, but she wasn't finished.  
  
"However, it won't you who is exiled," the sorceress continued, "It will be your father."  
  
"Father?"  
  
Just then, behind her, a man appeared, accompanied by two other soldiers behind him.  
  
"Father!"  
  
Jacky ran towards his father, but the sorceress wouldn't even let him to be close to his father. With a wave of her hand, a magical force suddenly blew Jacky to the floor at the back of the room.  
  
"Your additional punishment is not to have a final moment with your father before he is exiled," Sorceress Adel spoke.  
  
Disbelieving what he heard, Jacky got off the floor and tried again to get to his father. Already predicting that would happen, Sorceress Adel quickly created a ball of electricity and threw at the boy. The ball hit Jacky, shocking him painfully when it did. As it shocked him, Jacky couldn't move body but his head faced right towards the sorceress and his father. He was able to see the sad look on his father's face as he turned around to exit the room, followed by the sorceress and then the two earlier soldiers. Calv was left in the room. Although still in pain, Calv tried to look at Jacky, whose body was still covered with electricity. Even with the bright, sparkling blue light blinding his eyes from time to time, Calv could still see the tears rolling from Jacky's desperate face.  
  
"FATHER!!!!" Jacky cried with his remaining energy before the electricity suddenly died and he collapsed to the floor.  
  
*********  
  
Opening his eyes, Jacky could see that he was laying on his bed in his room now. Just then, he remembered about his father and quickly rose up from his back, but then suddenly, pain went through his body, stopping him from moving for a moment.  
  
"Jacky! You've woken up."  
  
Jacky looked up. Rushing through the door was his sister.  
  
"Where's Father?" Jacky asked, still tired, "I've. I've got to see him."  
  
Jacky tried to get off the bed but then the pain forced him not to move.  
  
"Don't move, Jacky. You've not yet recovered from Sorceress Adel's magic," Sophia said as she pushed Jacky back to bed.  
  
"Where's Father? I want to see him."  
  
Sophia was silent, but by her face, Jacky knew that he would not see his father again.  
  
"Sorry, Jacky, but while you were still unconscious, Father was sent off to space," Sophia explained, tears were welling up in her eyes.  
  
"No." Jacky muttered, "This is all my fault."  
  
"No, Jacky, it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything."  
  
"Yes, I did! If it weren't for me, Father would not have been exiled," Jacky, crying as he spoke.  
  
"It's all right, Jacky," suddenly a warm voice sounded.  
  
Jacky looked up to see his mother. She slowly walked over to his bed and sat on a chair beside it. She was smiling warmly but in her eyes, there was a hint of sorrow.  
  
"Your father understood the situation you were in, and he wanted me to tell you that it wasn't your fault," she continued.  
  
"After all, Jacky, you saved your friend." Calv said, appearing through the door, ".even though you knew there would be a hard price to pay."  
  
Tears were still rolling down Jacky's cheeks.  
  
"I knew there would be a price to pay, but I didn't thought that it would cost Father to go!" Jacky said, crying harder now.  
  
"Hush, my child," Jacky's mother spoke softly, hugging her crying child and softly patting his back, "Your father will never blame you for that. He never even thought bad of you."  
  
Jacky's crying has lessened now. Hearing his soften sobs, Jacky's mother released her hug and looked at her child's face.  
  
"Although your father was exiled, he was still proud of you." she continued softly, ".as his only son who has already learned the value of friendship."  
  
Jacky continued crying, though less now. He sobbed loudly as he wiped his tears from his cheeks. Seeing that, his mother smiled warmly and hugged Jacky. Jacky gave her a hug as well as Sophia leaned in and hugged both of them while Calv just stood at the end of the bed and watched the three.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
. Uncle Calv continued to be one of Sorceress Adel's prime ministers. No one knows why Sorceress Adel did not strip him of his power, even until now. Some time after Jacky's father was exiled, the sorceress called for Jacky for another mission. His new mission was to infiltrate Balamb Garden," Vies recalled.  
  
"So, that's when Jacky came to Balamb Garden," Amber said.  
  
"Yeah," Vies said, "Since he left Esthar for Balamb Garden, we never heard from him."  
  
"So, that's all you know about Jacky's past?" Zack asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's it," Vies answered.  
  
Selphie, who had been listening carefully to Vies, looked towards the horizon.  
  
"The sun's setting. Squall and Rinoa should be heading to the Presidential Palace. Let's go."  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER XVI (B): THE LABORATORY INCIDENT  
  
Jacky is now seated on a comfortable couch. His father and mother sat beside him, together with Sophia. Surrounding the couch were some of Jacky's friends he knew when he was young, most of them being the ones that had shared the same past as him. They were telling Jacky about what had happened in Esthar in the past years he had gone for Balamb Garden. Each one of them told their side of the story, but either way, Jacky listened to them with great interest.  
  
Somewhere along the time when Jacky wasn't in Esthar and after Sorceress Adel's fall, an unidentified space pod was coincidentally found floating around in space by a group of space explorers. Everyone was surprised when they found out that the people inside the pod were the people who were exiled by Sorceress Adel at the time when Jacky's father was. The pod was immediately brought back to Esthar without hesitation. And that was how Jacky's father returned to Esthar. Just then, Squall and Rinoa entered the room.  
  
"Squall? Rinoa?" Jacky, surprised they appeared.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt anything, but the sun has already set and we've said that we'll be here again at that time," Rinoa explained.  
  
"What? It's sunset already?" Jacky exclaimed.  
  
While he was together with his family and friends, he completely lost track of the time and it had seemed to him that it was for only a short while. Just then, Zack, Amber, Selphie and Vies appeared through the door behind Squall and Rinoa.  
  
"Hey there, everyone!" Selphie exclaimed loudly, "We're back!"  
  
"Are you done with everything?" Squall asked Jacky.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am." Jacky said disappointingly, "I do wish to stay with my family and friends a little longer. but there'll be other times."  
  
Jacky walked slowly towards Squall, Zack and the others when suddenly an Esthar soldier rushed into the room and collapsed to the floor, surprising everyone in the room. Panting heavily, the soldier stayed still on the floor.  
  
"Sorce. Sorceress. Ul-Ultimecia." the soldier muttered in between his panting.  
  
"What?" Selphie gasped.  
  
"Dr Od. Dr Odine. s-sorceress. his. lab-laboratory." the soldier continued, again in between his panting.  
  
"Let's go!" Squall exclaimed to the others before rushing out the room, followed by Rinoa, Selphie, Zack, Amber and Jacky.  
  
*********  
  
Following Squall, Rinoa and Selphie, all six of them were able to get to Dr Odine's laboratory in minutes. The six stopped when they saw a man in a red robe, panicking in front of the laboratory.  
  
"Help! Help! Sorceress Ultimecia! Dr Odine! Help!" the man cried while running around, panicking.  
  
When the man saw the six, his face quickly lightened up as he ran towards them.  
  
"Thank goodness! Please! Help Dr Odine! Sorceress Ultimecia is inside with him!" he begged Squall.  
  
"Yes, we know," Rinoa said calmly.  
  
"Now, move aside and let's us take of her!" Selphie exclaimed before pulling out and swinging her weapon, a nunchaku, Strange Vision.  
  
As if by signal, everyone else followed suit - Squall drawing out his translucent-bladed sword, which had been combined with a silver-plated revolver at the handle of the sword, his gunblade, Lionheart, Rinoa arming her saber saw-like weapon that was wrapped around her right arm, her blaster edge, Shooting Star, Zack drawing out and preparing his Ultimega Sword, Amber arming her Star Achiever and Jacky with his Sahara Side- bladers. Prepared for a battle, the six rushed into Dr. Odine's laboratory. Inside, the six immediately saw Sorceress Ultimecia, hovering high above the bare floor, carrying Dr Odine by the front of his purple shirt off his feet with only one hand. He seemed scared out of his mind, struggling helplessly in her hand.  
  
"SeeD's!" the sorceress hissed when the six entered.  
  
"Let go of Dr Odine!" Rinoa shouted.  
  
"What do you want from him?" Squall asked, his face serious as ever.  
  
The sorceress piercingly stared at him for a moment. She surprised the six when she suddenly threw Dr Odine across the room, to the wall. Dr Odine immediately fell unconscious once he landed on the floor.  
  
"Nothing. anymore," Sorceress Ultimecia said, "He is of no use to me now."  
  
With that, she slowly floated up higher. Squall knew immediately that she was leaving and quickly charged towards her. Reaching only a few feet from her, the sorceress suddenly blew Squall back with only a quick wave of her hand, sending him sliding across the floor back to the group. Rinoa quickly squatted down beside him.  
  
"Are you alright, Squall?"  
  
Squall didn't bother to answer as he slowly got back up. Seeing this and having the terrible grudge against him for defeating her the last time, Sorceress Ultimecia sent another powerful force against Squall, pushing him back to the floor.  
  
"Squall!" Rinoa gasped, rushing to him again.  
  
The sorceress grinned a small smile of satisfaction when suddenly, a bullet flew through her left shoulder, which forced her to drop to the floor. The sorceress had let her guard down for a moment and Amber had taken the advantage to shoot her. A thin line of red blood streamed down her right hand that was covering her bullet wound. The sorceress glared up at Amber, who was still pointing her gun towards her. Glaring back at the sorceress, Amber tried difficultly to stay brave.  
  
"Silly little girl." the sorceress muttered, wincing a little at her wound though her face still stayed the same - angered and evil.  
  
Glaring at Amber, who was starting to tremble a little, the sorceress continued, "You'll regret that."  
  
As she said so, she let go of her wound and started gathering some kind of magic in her right hand, which was still smeared with her blood. Before Amber could react, Sorceress Ultimecia shot a dark-blue thunderbolt towards her. Suddenly, the bolt was halted as Zack quickly stood in front of Amber and blocked it with his Ultimega Sword, forcing the bolt to spark to other directions, away from Amber and barely hitting Zack himself.  
  
"Zack!" Amber shouted, surprised as she watched Zack from behind.  
  
The bolt was a lot more powerful than Zack thought as he struggled hard to block the bolt. When the bolt finally stopped, he dropped his sword to the floor and collapsed onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily.  
  
"Are you alright?" Amber asked anxiously when he did.  
  
This was the first time Zack ever did such a thing. His hands were feeling numb as several sparks of the bolt had been able to affect them and the pushing force of the powerful bolt against his sword has left Zack's elbows aching.  
  
Sorceress Ultimecia hissed, "Stupid boy. I kan now expect you to be destroyed before you kan destroy Thora's plan!"  
  
Zack was silent; he didn't know what to say. He wasn't the type with much confidence to do everything.  
  
The sorceress slowly got up to her feet and then started to hover off the floor again, "After what I've seen, I'm konfident that you won't succeed to do anything!"  
  
Just as she was done, a quick movement caught her eye as she quickly flew back, dodging two swift and lethal slashes. Jacky landed back on his feet and cursed at his double miss as he looked up at the sorceress. With his right blade weapon repositioned to follow the flow of his left blade, he had charged towards the sorceress and tried to attack her with a clockwise- twirling double slash, in which his blades would work like the blade of a working chainsaw around his body.  
  
Sorceress Ultimecia was angered even more by Jacky's attack when suddenly, something blasted through the ceiling of the laboratory, sending several amount of debris onto the young group. Seeing the falling debris, Zack quickly pulled Amber to the back and Jacky hurried to protect Dr Odine, who was still unconscious. Luckily, no one was harmed. When everyone recovered from the event, they realized that the sorceress has disappeared. Looking up at the ceiling, they saw that there was now a large hole in it.  
  
"She must have escaped through there," Selphie exclaimed.  
  
"No point chasing after her," Squall said, "Everyone alright?"  
  
"I'm alright," Zack answered, "Are you okay, Amber?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Jacky?" Rinoa shouted.  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright!" Jacky answered, standing up from behind the small heap of the debris that has formed in the middle of the room, "Dr Odine seems alright, too, but he's still unconscious."  
  
Just then, the man earlier, in the red robe, rushed into the laboratory. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw Dr Odine laying still on the floor.  
  
"What has happened to Dr Odine!?"  
  
"Everything's all right," Rinoa explained, trying to calm the man down, "Dr Odine has only fainted. He isn't dead."  
  
Hearing that, the man let out a loud sigh of relief, "What a relief!"  
  
"Let's get him to a doctor," Squall said, kneeling down beside Dr Odine.  
  
"Oh, I'll lead you to the doctor then!" the man said, "Follow me!"  
  
Carrying Dr Odine up in his hands, Squall followed the man as he hastily exited the laboratory. Following behind Squall were Zack, Amber and everyone else.  
  
*********  
  
Outside Dr Odine's laboratory, the young group could be seen exiting while following the man in the red robe. Watching them quietly, high up in the sky, were Sephiroth and Sorceress Ultimecia. Seeing the unconscious Dr. Odine being carried off by Squall, Sephiroth slowly shook his head in disappointment.  
  
"You are so reckless, aren't you?" he says calmly, turning his head to look at the still angered sorceress.  
  
"Why did you stop me? Why did you force me to retreat?" the sorceress questioned angrily.  
  
It was Sephiroth who had caused the blast through the ceiling of the laboratory earlier. As he did, he quickly forced Sorceress Ultimecia to escape by grabbing and pulling her out through the hole in the ceiling.  
  
"Thora would not have wanted you to continue," Sephiroth said confidently, watching Zack and the others again.  
  
"But I kould've easily killed them!"  
  
"It isn't yet the time to face them!" Sephiroth suddenly snapped, his face scowling angrily at her.  
  
Sorceress Ultimecia was silenced.  
  
"You still have a role to play in, Sorceress Ultimecia. Don't forget that."  
  
The sorceress just shrugged before looking at the group again before Sephiroth does.  
  
"We'll meet with them again." Sephiroth said softly, ". in another time."  
  
With that, the two disappeared in a flash. 


	18. Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII (A): WORLD COMPRESSION  
  
Zack and the rest are now inside the Esthar Presidential Palace, waiting outside the room where Dr Odine had been brought. A doctor has been sent to check on Dr Odine's condition and it has been a while since then. Outside Dr Odine's room, Selphie was looking out a window, bored. Squall stood quietly, leaning on the wall near the door to Dr Odine's room while Rinoa sat quietly on the couch that was also near the door. Sitting with her were Zack and Amber. Jacky was with his family again in another room. The man in the red robe was also there, nervously pacing back and forth. Just then, the door opened as the doctor walked through it. The man immediately rushed to him.  
  
"How is Dr Odine?" the man asked, terribly concerned of Dr Odine.  
  
"Don't worry, Dr Odine only suffered a minor trauma from his experience with Sorceress Ultimecia. He'll be fine after a while's rest. If you wish, you may talk to him. He has returned to consciousness a while ago," the doctor explained.  
  
"Oh, thank you, doctor," the man exclaimed.  
  
"You are most welcome."  
  
As the doctor walked off, the young group, together with the man in the red robe, entered the room where Dr Odine was, seated up on his comfortable bed. Seeing him, Zack could easily tell that he was still shaken by his encounter with Sorceress Ultimecia. Besides that, the only thing different about the professor was his clothes. He was wearing a white gown. Looking around the room, Zack found Dr Odine's purple clothes hanging on the wall at the other side of the room. At that point, Zack realized that the red and white 'disk', which would always be around the short professor's neck, was part of his attire. The 'disk' was like the collar of his strange shirt.  
  
"Are you alright, Dr Odine?" the man in the red robe asked the still-shaken professor.  
  
"Yez, I am fine," Dr Odine answered, "I am only tired."  
  
"Then, rest, Dr Odine. The doctor said that you will recover after some time of rest," the man explained.  
  
"And I shall!" Dr Odine said, pausing in a moment of tiredness.  
  
"Dr Odine," Squall, breaking the short silence, "Tell us, what did Sorceress Ultimecia want from you? What happened?"  
  
"It waz a strange one," Dr Odine said, "She wanted to know. about world compression."  
  
"World compression?" Selphie, surprised by that.  
  
"Zat is correct," the professor said as he began.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: THE LABORATORY EVENT  
  
In the large laboratory, everything was going as usual. Dr Odine was busy with his work, thinking through difficult calculations, planning the next thing to do, etc. Together with him was his assistant, the man in the red robe, who was also busy, helping the lively professor. This busy atmosphere went on for hours since morning, when the two came to the lab, but then, suddenly, a blinding light flashed, disrupting Dr Odine and his assistant from their work. Within the light, Dr Odine could see a human figure and as the light faded, the figure became clearer and soon, the figure turned out to be a woman in a bizarre robe and with black wings on her back.  
  
"Who are you?" the surprised professor asked in anger, "Why have you disrupt my work?"  
  
However, looking into the woman's piercing eyes, Dr Odine slowly felt fear going through his body, "A sorceress!"  
  
"Greetings, Dr Odine," the sorceress said calmly.  
  
"What do you want?" the man in the red robe asked, trying to be brave.  
  
"There is something that you might have a slight knowledge of, Dr Odine," the sorceress continued, "And that something is what I want."  
  
"And what would zat be?" the professor muttered.  
  
Staring sharply into Dr Odine's eyes, the sorceress answered, "World kompression."  
  
"World compression?" Dr Odine gasped.  
  
"Wait a minute!" the man in the red robe shouted, "First of all, who are you? And what is it that you are talking about?"  
  
Turning to glare at the man, the sorceress calmly muttered, "You are annoying me."  
  
With that, she sent some kind of an invisible force, which blew the man off his feet and crashing to the wall. A loud thud could be heard as the man landed onto the floor and lost consciousness.  
  
"Now then." the sorceress continued, looking back at Dr Odine, ". tell me what you know about world kompression."  
  
"First, tell me, who you are?" the professor demanded.  
  
"What is going on?" a soldier suddenly asked after rushing into the room, armed with his weapon.  
  
The soldier was shocked when he saw the unconscious man on the floor.  
  
"My name is Sorceress Ultimecia," the sorceress finally revealed, "And you have just interrupted me!"  
  
As before, she sent an invisible force towards the soldier, but luckily, he was quick enough to roll away before being hit.  
  
"Get my assistant out!" Dr Odine ordered.  
  
"Yes, sir!" the soldier answered, still shaken from the attack.  
  
Quickly, the soldier carried the unconscious man off the floor and rushed to the door. However, the sorceress would not let him leave unharmed. Just as the soldier was about to exit the lab with the unconscious man, Sorceress Ultimecia sent another wave of force towards them and the wave hit the soldier's back, sending him flying out the door and onto the floor outside the laboratory, together with the unconscious man he was carrying. Even so, the soldier did not suffer any serious injury, although the wave had brought agonizing pain throughout his body.  
  
"I have to get help." he thought as he got off the floor as quickly as his aching body could and headed for the palace.  
  
Back inside, Dr Odine was now alone with the evil sorceress.  
  
"Sorceress Ultimecia!?" the shocked professor gasped, "I zought Squall and his party haz defeated you in ze future!"  
  
"They did," the sorceress said in disgust, "But now I have been revived and I have kome for your knowledge on world kompression!"  
  
"But I do not know anything about world compression," Dr Odine explained.  
  
"How kan you not know about world kompression!?"  
  
"What do you mean zen with world compression?" the professor asked.  
  
"World kompression as in kompressing several worlds into one!" the sorceress explained impatiently.  
  
"Compressing several worlds into one!?"  
  
"Yes! Now tell me what you know of it!" the sorceress demanded.  
  
"How could I ever have such knowledge if I have never zought about ze existence of other worlds?"  
  
Angered by the professor's answer, the sorceress suddenly grabbed Dr Odine by the front of his shirt with one hand.  
  
"You don't know!" the sorceress screamed.  
  
"How could I?" Dr Odine, who was now terrified, "I never knew zat other worlds exist!"  
  
Furious this time, she hovered off the floor, together with Dr Odine in her hand, scaring him even more as well.  
  
"You worthless fool! You were just a waste of my time!" the sorceress screamed as she slowly gathered some kind of magic power with her free hand, "Die!"  
  
Just before she threw the power directly at the helpless professor, she suddenly froze, as if something had just popped in her mind.  
  
"What?" the sorceress muttered, looking blankly over Dr Odine, as if talking to someone invisible, "Using beings from the different worlds."  
  
There was a short pause of silence. Looking at her face, Dr Odine could tell that she was thinking quite hard.  
  
"I kan do that," the sorceress suddenly said.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
. and zat was when you appeared to rescue me," Dr Odine, ending his story.  
  
"World compression? Is that possible?" Jacky asked.  
  
Everyone else was as baffled as him.  
  
"As long as there are other worlds. It might be possible," Rinoa said, although uncertain about it.  
  
"Sorceress Ultimecia did compress time before," Selphie added, "She might be able to compress the other worlds as well."  
  
Looking at Squall, Zack could see that he was concentrating quite hard about the matter.  
  
"Dr Odine, what do you think she mean by 'Using beings of the different worlds'?" Squall asked.  
  
"Does everyone expect me to be a genius!?" Dr Odine suddenly snapped.  
  
"Aren't you?" Selphie asked, quite stupidly.  
  
"I do not understand what she meant, but she might mean using beings from different worlds for ze world compression process," Dr Odine guessed.  
  
Hearing that, Squall thought about it some more, walking to the other side of the room to be alone. Rinoa watched him as he did, while Selphie thought about the matter as well. Jacky and Amber were not so sure what to think about. They did not know much of such matters. Zack, on the other hand, has seen this sort of matter through the game of Final Fantasy VIII, where Sorceress Ultimecia had compressed time by going further to the past from her original time. However, this time, it seemed that the matter would be quite different from that. This time, Sorceress Ultimecia was planning to compress several worlds.  
  
"How is she going to do so?" Zack thought, "By what Dr Odine just said? Using beings of the different worlds?"  
  
Zack then looked towards Squall. He was still concentrating quite hard about the matter. Besides that, Zack could also hear a soft whispering, as if Squall was talking to himself.  
  
"Squall." Rinoa, breaking Squall's concentration as he turned to look at her.  
  
"If there's anything on your mind, just tell us about it," Rinoa continued as she slowly walked towards him.  
  
Hearing that, Squall let out a sigh. It was as if Rinoa read Squall's mind again.  
  
Looking at Rinoa, Squall sighed, "What could Sorceress Ultimecia be planning?"  
  
Hearing that, Zack thought solemnly, "More importantly, what is Thora planning?"  
  
==========  
  
CHAPTER XVII (B): THE PAST CONTINUES  
  
It is now nighttime. Sophia had invited Zack, Amber, Squall and the rest to stay overnight in the palace. Rinoa politely accepted her invitation, despite Squall's haste to return to Garden. The reason she accepted the invitation was so that Jacky would be able to spend more time with his family and friends. After all, it had been around ten years since Jacky left for Balamb Garden.  
  
Now, Zack, Amber, Squall, Rinoa and Selphie are in a large bedroom. In the bedroom, there were six beds, three on each side of the room. Selphie was taking a nap on her bed. Rinoa was laying on her bed on her side, watching at Squall, who was laying quietly on the bed closest to the door of the room. Although he was, Zack knew that he wasn't taking a nap and that Rinoa knew about it, too. Squall was tossing around on the bed. Zack knew it was like a habit of Squall to lie down and just think about the things that has happened. That was how it was with him anyway in the game.  
  
"However, it is kind of. normal to do so," Zack thought to himself.  
  
He was also laying down on one of the beds, but he was only resting, not napping.  
  
"When you're relaxing and not doing anything else, you tend to think about certain things," Zack continued, "I'm sure everyone does so, unless they have nothing to think about."  
  
Turning onto his side, he sees Amber, who was laying on the bed next to his.  
  
"Amber," Zack, a little surprise when he realized that Amber has been watching him, "Is something the matter?"  
  
"No, nothing," Amber answered softly.  
  
There was a long pause of silence.  
  
"I've been wondering." Amber suddenly said, ". how it was when Jacky first came to Balamb Garden."  
  
Zack didn't need to say anything. He, too, did not know how Jacky's past was when he first came to Garden. Just then, the door in the room opened. Zack sat up to see who was it. It was Jacky.  
  
"You guys are already getting ready to sleep?" he said in surprise.  
  
"No, we weren't. Barely a wink!" Selphie suddenly exclaimed, sitting up on her bed.  
  
"I knew you weren't sleeping," Rinoa said, looking towards her.  
  
Selphie just winked, grinning childishly. Laughing happily, Jacky walked towards the empty bed in the corner to the right of the door, which was next to Zack's bed, and collapsed onto it.  
  
Letting out a loud sigh, Jacky explained, "So tired. Feels good to be laying down again."  
  
"Jacky?"  
  
"Yes, Amber?"  
  
"I want to know." Amber said, ". how was it when you first came to Balamb Garden?"  
  
Jacky was confused, "Huh?"  
  
"Vies told us about your time in Esthar when you were still a child," Zack explained, "But he didn't know what happened after you had left for Balamb Garden."  
  
Hearing that, Jacky let out a calming sigh as he recalled his childhood, his torturous spy-training, the suffering of his family and friends and of course, his time with Sorceress Adel.  
  
"It had been tough," Jacky said finally after a short while of silence, "Because of what I did, Father was forced to be exiled and I never even got the chance to say goodbye to him that day. Then, some time after the exile of my father, Uncle Calv and the other ministers came across a few gardens that were training mercenaries to fight against sorceresses. After informing Sorceress Adel about them, she called for a few other spies and me to investigate those gardens.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
FLASHBACK: MISSION TO THE GARDEN  
  
In Sorceress Adel's throne room, Sorceress Adel was sitting comfortably on her throne. Some of her ministers, including Calv, were also there, standing at each side of the room and in the middle of the room, kneeling in respect to the sorceress, were Jacky and two other spies, a boy and a girl, who were both only a few years older than him.  
  
"Jacky Cage," said Sorceress Adel, "You have been called to me again on a special mission. Minister Calv, brief him on his mission."  
  
"Yes, Sorceress Adel," said Calv before stepping forward and turning to the three young spies, "From the information that was acquired from Galbadia by Jacky some time ago, we have discovered that there are three facilities around the world that are training special mercenaries called SeeD's to fight against sorceresses. Jacky, Rick, Claire, you three have been chosen by Sorceress Adel to investigate each of these facilities that are known as gardens."  
  
Calv paused for a moment as a virtual world map suddenly appeared in front of the three spies and he walked over to it.  
  
"Claire, you will be investigating Trabia Garden, which is located somewhere northwest of Esthar," Calv announced, pointing his finger at an estimated location on the map.  
  
"Rick, you will be investigating Galbadia Garden, which is located in this area," Calv announced again, pointing at a small area northwest of a small town called Timber on a large continent that was east of Esthar.  
  
"Jacky, you will be investigating Balamb Garden, which is located on this island," Calv continued, pointing at a small island that was located almost at the center of the map.  
  
This was the first time the three spies ever heard of these places. They were still strangers to the world outside of Esthar, although they have been sent to several places outside of Esthar on a few of their past missions.  
  
"You will all take cover as new students in each of these gardens. You shall learn more of your cover identities within these files," Calv explained, holding out three files.  
  
Slowly, Calv walked over to the kneeling three and handed them each a file. Each of the spies accepted the files without any hesitations.  
  
"Study your new identities, play them as your actual life. By dawn, tomorrow, you will all begin your mission," Calv explained, "Understand?"  
  
"Yes!" the three spies obediently answered.  
  
"That will be all," said Calv before standing together with the other ministers.  
  
"Now," Sorceress Adel said calmly, "I know I don't have to say it. but then, you are all still young children."  
  
Hearing that, Jacky thought grudgingly, "If you know we're children, why do you force us to become spies?"  
  
"Be careful on your mission. You must not reveal your true identity no matter when is it, no matter where you are and no matter WHO you're with," Sorceress Adel continued, glaring seriously at the three, "Dismiss!"  
  
With that, the three young spies left the room.  
  
*********  
  
Jacky is now in his room, packing his necessary stuffs into a luggage, mostly his clothes only. Since he was forced to be a spy, he did not have any time for leisure activities, not even reading books, but he doesn't really care. His different life as a spy has changed him to what he was and because of that, he has forgotten how his life was like, without any worries. Just then, his mother entered the room. She stood still for a moment at the door, watching as Jacky packed his clothes.  
  
"Jacky."  
  
Surprised, Jacky turned around to face his mother.  
  
"Mother, what is it?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Oh." Jacky, before he returned his attention to packing his clothes.  
  
Seeing this, Jacky's mother walked slowly into the room.  
  
"Dear," she muttered as Jacky turned again towards her, "I know you feel responsible for your father's exile, but don't think that your father is disappointed in you. He was only disappointed that he didn't get to say so to you."  
  
Jacky was surprised when she said that, "He was?"  
  
She nodded slowly, "He was proud that you went to rescue your friend. It was only because of Sorceress Adel that he couldn't tell you this himself. Before he left on his exile spaceship, he told me to tell you this."  
  
Hearing this, Jacky felt like crying. He never knew that his father still cared about him.  
  
"And there's one more thing," his mother continued, "Your father actually wanted to give you this when you've become 13, but then, now that you're about to leave Esthar for a long mission. I guess it doesn't matter anymore."  
  
With that, Sophia entered into the room, carrying a large dark case in her small arms. Jacky was confused, not knowing what was in the case. He has seen the case a few. He knew it belonged to his father but he never got to see what was inside the case.  
  
"Jacky, this belonged to your father. He has kept this case closed since he last used it," Jacky's mother explained, "When your father was younger, he was a great soldier in the Esthar Army, who specialized in Blade Weaponry. This case had been kept closed for a few years now."  
  
She then put her hand on the heavy case.  
  
"Jacky, this now belongs to you," Jacky's mother said as she lifted the cover of the case. 


End file.
